The Pirates' Journey
by JupiterMaster8586
Summary: Disclaimer: We don't own anything in here, don't sue us. All out anime/cartoon/book crossover, they're pirates, that's all you get to know. Rated for language and adult suggestions. Please Read and Review!!!
1. Diamond Island

Diamond Island  
  
The ship named the Fire Soul was sailing the ocean on a random quest just for the hell of it. The captain was named Rehab Sanada, a.k.a. The Fire Bitch because she had the temper of a fire. Captain Sanada was barking orders to her crew about reaching this island before dark, this island was called Diamond Island.  
As the Fire Soul rolled into the Diamond Island, another ship came in. It was a plain brown ship, filthy and unkempt. "All right!" came a rough male voice from on deck. "All slaves off!" The slave ship was emptied, boys and girls, men and women, of all ages and races pouring onto the pier. "You! Stop lagging!" he yelled, as a teenage girl with long brown hair started to slow down. She didn't look at her best. The crack of a whip, and the girl screamed. She then passed out on the pier, the slaves passing her unnoticed. "Drown her!" the order came. A few of the ship's crew picked her up and threw her into the water. She floated for a while until she sank slowly to the sea's floor. "Now! All of the rest of you! Keep going unless you want to have the same fate as her! There will be no sick slaves for the auction tomorrow!"  
At the Slave Auction...there were many slaves all different sizes and shapes. Captain Sanada was walking back and forth looking at the merchandise that was brought in. "I'll take this Blondie over here she looks promising." Cap. Sanada said to the other Captain. The girl was about 16, she wore part of her hair tied in the back with a great big Red bow. "How much for her?"  
The slave-auctioneer smiled wide. "You take a prize...this wonderful little specimen's price starts at, oh say, 1,000 rupees?"  
"Oh, she's just NICE and dandy..." came the sarcastic voice from behind the auctioneer.  
"Zechs Merquise..." the auctioneer growled. "How NICE of you to COME this year..." he said through gritted teeth.  
"Oh, yes, and it's very nice BEING here, Daniel. Now, how about you show me some greater specimens, like, oh say, that one over there?" he pointed to a woman about 20 years old with short navy-blue hair.  
"Oh, she's only going off for 500 rupees this year," Daniel said.  
"Really? Hmm, she looks worth more than that..." Zechs observed. "After all, I could use some late night entertainment..."  
Cap. Sanada says "I'll take the one I wanted before...for about 1,500 rupees."  
"Then wait until the auction starts, miss..." Daniel smiled. "Which is actually now..." Daniel stepped up to the platform and knocked his javelin against the lectern. "Ladies and gentlemen! The bidding will start now!" The crew of his ship led up a young slave and the auctioning began. They went through several slaves before coming to one that caught everyone's eye. He was very spirited and struggled with the crew members.  
"Let me go!" he yelled. His short, blond, messy hair stuck to his head with sweat. "I refuse...to be...sold! I'm not an animal!" he continued to struggle against their grasps until Daniel approached him and slapped him across the face.  
"You will listen! You are a slave, nothing but dirt! Something to own!" Daniel yelled in the young man's face. He stepped back up to the lectern and laughed to the crowd loudly. The young man continued to glare at the auctioneer, but he did not struggle anymore. "Quite the energetic one, isn't he?" Daniel laughed. The crowd made a forced chuckle. "His name is Omi Mamoru, he is 18 years old and is a cross Japanese-French. How that turned out, we may never know. His bid starts at--"  
Daniel never got the chance to finish before a man of about 22 in the audience announced, "5,000 Rupees!" Everyone stared at the red haired man. Was he insane? Who would pay that much for someone who'd be so disloyal?  
"Um...5,000 rupees going once! 5,000 going twice! Sold to the red haired man in the back! What's your name sir?" Daniel asked.  
"Aya," the man said simply. "Just Aya." Omi was paraded off of the platform and the blond haired girl replaced it. "Now, this is Minako Aino of 16 years, Japanese-English, the current offer has been raised to 1,500 rupees! Any higher bids?" "2,000 rupees!" came Zechs' call, just to spite Rei. "3,500 rupees!" Rei hollowed. "5,000!" Zechs retorted. "7,500!" Rei screamed. "10,000!" "20,000!" "50,000!" "500,000!" Zechs smirked. "5,000,000!" "That's it I'm beat, he can have her." Zechs chuckled. "And I still have 5,000,000 left to spend on slaves, beer, smokes, and whores." Rei just glares at him, with disgust. "Well I know you will have fun with her when you get back to your ship, now wont you?" "Maybe," Zechs said. "Maybe not, we'll just have to see, now won't we?" "Now, this next handsome young man is 17 years old, Japanese. His name is Seiji Date. His bid starts at 1,000 rupees. Any takers?" "2,000!" came a female voice. "5,000!" came another. "1,000,000," came a deep-throated growl. They all looked at Rajura, the captain of the Spider. "And anyone who wants to bid higher gets to answer to rusty here..." he patted the sword at his side. No one said anything, they all knew that the rumor was that he dipped the sword in poison daily.  
Rei yells "20,000,000".  
Seiji relaxed against a beam behind him. He seemed to be enjoying his current rise in popularity. "50,000,000!" Rajura yelled. Everyone looked at him. This was going to be a LONG auction. "100,000,000." "500,000,000." "1,000,000,000."  
Rajura sighed and whispered something to Kale, his 1st mate. Kale answered in another whisper and Rajura smiled. "Good idea, Kale, ol' boy! You see, this is what I look for in a crew! Brains!" Everyone looked at each other. "Ms. Sanada...I mean, CAPTAIN Sanada, I'll pay both you AND the auction 5,000,000,000 rupees for this fine young man..."  
Rei walks over to him lifting up her skirts as she walk so she wouldn't trip over them. "That is very generous of you, I'll take it." puts out her hand, for a shake.  
Rajura took it firmly. With a simple snap of his fingers (his crew is VERY loyal) 5 bags were produced for Rei, each filled with 1,000,000,000 rupees. "I'll pay the auction when it comes time."  
"All...right...then..." Daniel stuttered, not seeming to know what in the HELL just happened. "Seiji, you may leave the stage now...Seiji..." It was no use, in all of the excitement, Seiji Date seemed to have fallen asleep. Daniel sweat dropped. "Men, remove him from the stage and please, DON'T HURT HIM IN ANY WAY! He's worth a freaking fortune!"  
"You know, he's probably not worth as much as they suggest, those two have just been going at it for years with all of that competition stuff..." one of the people in the crowd muttered.  
"Has Rei ever WON one of those competitions?"  
"Well, technically no, but she sure has gotten pretty rich from it!"  
After the Auction, Rei walks over to Zechs and says, "Had your fun yet?"  
"With Noin, yes," Zechs smirked. "Oh, I believe this is yours..." he pushed Minako towards Rei. He left with a wave, "It's been nice competing with you!"  
Rei runs over to Zechs, "Wait a moment, what is all this about....? Why did you just give her to me?" says while she has her hand on his arm.  
Zechs looked away. "She was rightfully yours, I just wanted the thrill of a REAL auction..." he said, shrugging her hand away. He walked to his ship, intercepting his captain on the way. After a few words, they both boarded their ships and set sail for the next island, Sapphire, known for it's...ahem..."whore-houses".  
Rei yells, "thank you." (snaps her figures and Her 1st mate came to her side) "Serena, please show Miss Aino to her room on my ship and make sure she is properly dressed."  
"Yes, Captain." exclaimed Serena.  
They all board the ship and head to Sapphire Island.  
  
The trip to Sapphire wasn't fun. Especially when it was cut off by the over confident Tallgeese II crew, which included, guess who, Zechs Merquise. Trowa Barton, the cook, proved very admirable with a sword, and even better with a ladel, knocking Serena out with one blow of it. Zechs, of course, was a good swordsman, as was the captain, Treize Kushrenada. Heero Yuy, the gunner, was better with, well, guns. Rei proved to very good at using a sword against Zechs, who couldn't believe how skillful she was when it came to battle. Rei's Gunner Haruka also proved to be very skillful with guns also. Serena on the other hand was a klutz, but she was very reliable when it came to other things, just not fighting. Rei says to Zechs "nice to see you again. What do you want from me?"  
"Whoever said I wanted anything?" Zechs asked. He made a nice perrie and held his sword against hers, keeping them both where they were. "Shouldn't you be fighting Treize?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "You know, the classic 'Captain vs. Captain' battle? Or are you too good for my dear captain to handle?"  
"You never know with me..." with that comment she used the hilt of the sword against his knee cap.  
Zechs gasped in pain, dropping his sword and grabbing his knee in pain. "God! I know there's no rules in pirating, but that move should be illegal!" he yelled.  
In almost a flash (okay, not quite a flash, make that about two flashes, nah, two and a half) Rei's sword was across the deck. "Problem, Zechs?" came a smooth voice. "Oh, no, none at all, Noin..." Zechs said sarcastically. "That is, not counting the searing sharp, throbbing pain IN MY KNEE!" "Sorry I asked sir..." Noin said. She quickly sheathed her sword again and bent down next to him. "Treize sir! Man down! Retreat requested, sir!"  
Treize looked at not only the defeated Zechs, but Heero with a fresh new air hole in his side, and Trowa, who apparently can't aim with only one eye, missed his target, and got a sword to his arm. "No choice! Request granted!" he yelled. The crew retreated back to their own ship and Noin steered the ship back on course to Sapphire Island.  
Rei looks at her crew with an eyebrow, "Everybody ok."  
Serena wakes up with a major headache. "oh my head....what happened?"  
Rei replies "You were hit on the head with a ladel."  
Serena replies "oh...no wonder it hurts so much." rubbing her head.  
Rei wasn't paying any attention to Serena still blabbing on and on. Rei's was look after the ship Zechs ship. But when she snaps out of it, she says, "Head straight ahead toword Sapphire Island." 


	2. Sapphire Island

Sapphire Island  
  
At Sapphire Island, it seemed like you couldn't turn one corner without running into a horny person. The whole crew had all ready gotten offers, and Rei got a very nice lap-dance from a young man that looked suspiciously like the young Obi-Wan Kanobi (O.o;;;).  
Inside one of the bars, a shirtless girl was playing piano, while many of the other whores were finding helpless victims, whether they were of different sexes or not, as long as they got paid. Two young men looked very attractive, though the majority of the looks weren't female. One's shoulder-length black hair was straight and clean, it's shine was almost blinding (just kidding). The other had short blond hair, and big blue eyes which seemed like endless pools. Who was sitting at the table next to Rei's, other than Treize and Trowa. Apparently, Noin was taking care of the others.  
Rei sees a girl with short blue hair walk by her table. Rei says " Hey girl, would you want to work on my ship?  
Ami says "Well I guess so, what skills are you looking for?" Rei answers "Well I am looking for a nurse...are you interested?" Ami replies with glee, " Oh yes ma'am I would love to." she runs off to get her stuff.  
  
Rei sees Treize sitting at the next table and she asks "So how is you friend Zechs?"  
"Practically paralyzed, thanks to you. Luckily we picked up a doctor on an abandoned island, and she says that she can get him and the rest of my crew up and walking again in about a week..."  
"Yeah..." Trowa said, distracted. The young blond-haired boy had caught his eye, and was doing a pretty good job of keeping it (I told you there's no way that kid could be a virgin, but did anyone listen to me? NOOOOO!!!). The boy looked up and giggled a bit, upon being noticed. Trowa waved at him and the boy turned away. "Hey, sir, have you ever heard of a shy whore before?"  
"Not in my lifetime..." Treize smirked. "And his friend's not too bad either..." he looked over the black haired boy a couple of times and whistled to him and the blond. They looked at each other and walked over.  
"Yes, sirs?" the black haired one asked.  
"What are your names?" Treize asked.  
"Well, I'm Wufei and this..." he looked beside him and the blond seemed to have disappeared. He sighed and pulled the blond out from behind him. "...This is Quatre...he's new here, don't be hard on him, this was the only job he qualified for..."  
"Really, what are his skills?" Treize asked, as Quatre and Wufei took a seat.  
"You mean besides blowjobs?" Wufei asked. Quatre blushed furiously and looked away. "Aw, he's just a little psychic..." Wufei sighed. Trowa was suddenly beet red. "Aw, so that's why he was avoiding you..." Wufei chuckled.  
"I, um, just, well, you know, it's a whore house, you can't help but THINK those things..." Trowa stammered. "So what are your skills?" he changed the subject.  
Wufei soon produced a sword, pointing right at Trowa. "I'm a swordsman, but I never did like fighting much, so I use it as...AHEM... 'safe sex'."  
"Wanna join a pirate's crew?" Treize asked.  
"Will it mean we won't have to give anymore blowjobs?" a quiet voice asked. They all looked at Quatre, who was blushing again.  
"Yeah, that it will," Treize smirked. Quatre nodded. Wufei smiled and said simply "If he goes, I go."  
  
Back on the ship, Rei was training Minako to be a lady's servant. "Very good, now you may go for the rest of the Day." Replied Rei. Mina curtsies, "thank you M'lady." and she's to go to her quarters.  
  
"Quatre, can I see you a moment?" Treize called into the kitchen, where Quatre was washing dishes.  
"Yes, sir!" Quatre literally dropped what he was doing, costing about 800 rupees worth of dishes (he's a psychic, but that doesn't mean he's bright), and practically skipped to Treize's quarters. "You wanted to see me, Treize-sama, sir?"  
"Yes, it's about your behavior lately..." Treize responded. "Trowa doesn't seem to be the only one you're avoiding...why is that?"  
"Well, I just keep getting strange feelings about Zechs and Noin. Zechs doesn't seem to like me, and Noin seems to like me TOO much..." Quatre responded.  
"Well, then..." he was cut short as his ship jolted. "What was that?"  
"Another ship is attacking, sir!" Heero said, running in. "The Fire Soul!"  
  
Rei yelled at her crew, "Haruka, get the cannons ready to fire!" Haruka responds, "YES....SIR!" The next thing you know there is a big boom on the Tallgeese II!  
  
Trowa staggered to his position on the deck. "Sir, should we prepare for a fight?"  
"NO!" Treize said sarcastically. "You should prepare for tea..." he rolled his eyes. "OF COURSE YOU SHOULD PREPARE FOR A FIGHT!"  
"S-sorry sir..." Trowa blushed, getting to the galley. Quatre was down there, stiff as a board. "Are you going to be okay?" he asked.  
"I'll be fine, but I'm picking something up...someone on that attacking ship is VERY worthy of fighting Wufei..." Quatre said, a bit distant. He looked up at Trowa. "I...I'm kinda scared...I've never actually fought in a pirates battle before..."  
"You should wait until you see a clear spot in the battle and make a mad dash for our quarters, once there, lock the door..." Trowa said. He picked up his sword and ladel. "Don't worry, if Serena Tsukino is involved, this won't take long..." he smirked. He kissed a surprised Quatre's cheek and left for the deck to join the others.  
  
Rei yells at her crew, "All hands on deck!"  
"But M'lady...we are all on deck...so now what should we do?" states Mina.  
"We should load all the cannons...and then I'll tell you when to fire" says Rei as she thinks. " Haruka you load all the guns and help prepare the cannons with Ami. Serena you go in to your quarters and lock the door and do not come out."  
"Ok.." Serena say meekly.  
"Right...I'll get right on it.....M'lady." says Haruka as she is running to do as she is told.  
Rei is now looking through the telescope at Zechs...."Well now what have we here?....Are the cannons ready?!...."  
"Yes M'lady...all ready and raren to go." answers Ami.  
"Ok....Ready.... aim...FIRE!!!!!!" Yells Rei......as she watches the cannonball go toward the Tallgeese II.  
  
Zechs looked up and his eyes widened. "HOLY SHIT!" he yelled. "WE'RE ABOUT TO BE BLOWN TO SMITHERINES!"  
"Everyone, take cover!" Trowa yelled. He ran for the galley, while the others scattered. The cannonball just missed the ship by a few inches. "What happened?" Trowa asked himself. He watched as Rei was yelling at Haruka for her crappy aim. "Ten'ou has the greatest aim in the islands, she shouldn't have missed."  
"Is it over...?" a timid voice came from behind him. Trowa turned around and saw Quatre, his eyes wide with fear. "I heard the yelling about a cannonball and got scared and hid behind the potatoes and the onions..." Trowa gently hugged the little pirate.  
"It's okay, it missed..." Trowa whispered. "Nothing's going to happen to the ship..."  
"I don't want the ship to sink..." Quatre said. Trowa nodded and stood up.  
"Remember what I told you to do?" he asked. Quatre nodded timidly and Trowa smiled. "There'll be a moment while they prepare another cannon. Go, now!" Trowa urged Quatre. Quatre smiled and made a mad dash for the crew's quarters.  
  
Rei yelled "Get another cannon ready...QUICK!!!!...HARUKA...don't miss this time."  
Haruka said, "I have had about enough of your ordering me around this ship. What if I don't want to get the cannons ready this time?" Rei just simply states to Haruka" If you don't want to see rats later this evening....then you will do as I say..."  
"Oh ok fine.....I'll get your Cannons ready.....Master......" Haruka ran and get the cannons ready.....  
Rei yelled to the others, "Are they ready yet?"  
Ami responded, "Yes M'lady."  
"Good...Ready.....Aim...FIRE!!!"  
  
Quatre all but shrieked when he saw the cannonball flying towards the ship. He covered his head and dived behind some barrels. 'Please let it miss...please don't let it hit us...' he thought.  
"Look out, everyone!" Treize yelled. "This one looks dead on!" He ducked into his cabin and again, everyone scattered. But just like the last one, it also fell short. Treize emerged from his cabin, Zechs close behind.  
"Sir, there's no WAY that Ten'ou could have missed two in a row..." Zechs said.  
"Maybe she's just having a bad day...?" Noin said, emerging from the crew's quarters.  
"Maybe," Treize said. "But it's rather odd, none the less..."  
  
Ami tells Rei" we've missed M'lady."  
"Yes I know.....This time aim a little to the left...." Haruka refills the cannon again and then says "M'lady it is ready again."  
"Wonderful...ready...aim...FIRE!!!!!!!!!"  
  
"They're trying again!" Heero yelled, flinging his arms into the air. He looked around. No one seemed to be fleeing at this point. But there were two people missing. He'd seen Quatre run to the crew's quarters, but... "Hey, guys...where's Wufei?" Heero said, scratching his head.  
"He went to the crew's quarters WAY before this all started..." Treize said. "So he's probably with Quatre..."  
"No he's not..." Quatre said, standing at the door of the crew's quarters. "He's up there..." he pointed to the crow's nest, where Wufei was making some interesting arm gestures. In the next instance, the cannonball hit the water again. The crew cheered.  
"That's why they never hit!" Heero whooped. "Wufei has the power of telepathy!"  
"Well I'll be..." Trowa scratched his head. "If he had the power of telepathy, why didn't he just send the cannonballs back the way they came?"  
"Because it isn't normal telepathy, it's gravitational telepathy..." Quatre said. "Wufei can't control where things go, but he can control the gravity in a concentrated spot...I told him through my mind to help because I could tell that the crew of the other ship would start shooting at us..."  
"You knew about his power?" Sally asked. "Why didn't you tell us?"  
"I promised I wouldn't until you really needed to know..." Quatre said, looking at the ground.  
"I'm glad you told us now," Treize said. "This makes things a lot different on this ship..."  
  
Rei screams "That Wufei...is really getting on my nerves...I...really need to get out of this mess!"  
"M'lady!" came Haruka's yell. Rei turned around to see Haruka running towards her. "They're firing back!" There were several splashes and Rei looked off to the side. A cannonball hit the water right in front of her.  
"They're missing every shot!" Rei fumed. "Do they mock me?" She looked at the other ship as if it were a poisonous snake. "We have to get out of here NOW!" she yelled. "We must make for Emerald Island!"  
"Why are we going to Emerald Island...M'lady?" asked Serena who came out of the Crew's Courtiers a bit shaken up by the cannon misshape.  
"Oh because we have to go shop for The Dinner and Dancing at Amber Island and also the men...?" hinted Rei...with a gleam in her eye...Knowing that she had a score to even out with somebody. Serena squealed with delight at the thought of seeing men...and also the idea of dancing in fancy dresses...from Emerald Island. 


	3. Emerald Island

Emerald Island  
  
"Captain we have landed at Emerald Island!" yelled Haruka.  
"Wonderful...Ladies let have at it...Ami you take Serena and make sure she doesn't get in to trouble while we are here."  
"Yes...M'lady...you have...my word on her safety." says Ami...as she takes Serena hand...and leads her down the plank to the dock. " Now Mina lets go Shopping for thousands and thousands of Fancy Dresses...I...have a lot o money and I intend to spend some of it."  
"Right M'lady." replies Mina following her mistress.  
  
"So, why are we going to Emerald Island again?" Zechs asked, looking around at the island, covered in mostly women.  
"Because Sally and Noin requested it..." Treize said simply.  
"Yeah, we're gonna do some MAJOR shopping!" Sally exclaimed. The others sighed; she'd gone into teeny-bopper mode.  
"Did you say shopping?" Wufei asked, eyes widening. He looked to the side of him where Quatre had been a second ago.  
"COME ON, LET'S GO!" Quatre was yelling from the dock. How he got there when they hadn't even tied down the boat yet, was a complete mystery. "Let's do some shopping!"  
Wufei smirked and did a quick gravity increase where Quatre was standing. "Slow down there, kid!" he yelled. He jumped off and helped tie down the boat, Quatre yelling at him to release him the whole time. Wufei finally released him and patted him on the head. "I know you're excited, but slow down..." he laughed.  
"All right!" Quatre yelled. "SHOPPING TIME!" In a split second, he was in the city and away from the crew.  
"Well...well...well...Who have we here?" Rei says as she walks up to Zechs...who was just coming off the Ship....sort of limping as he went on walking. "So how is the knee...been treating you since I last saw you personally?"  
"It's better..." Zechs said casually. "Could you keep an eye out for Quatre? He ran off on his own, and I don't trust letting a former whore loose in the city...he could get into trouble..." He quickly added, "Not that I CARE or anything..."  
"Oh..sure...we'll keep this between our selves...Oh and I will look out for Quatre...you never know what he could be getting in to on this island...that is...but what are you doing here...I have already bought a lot of Dresses...and I'm ready to buy more...would you like to accompany me...or just lolly gag around this Island?" says Rei.  
"I'm actually going to go into town and buy a new shirt...this one's been sewn up too much..." he looked down and Rei found that he was right. The white shirt he wore had several stitches and patches, obviously the poor victim on the receiving end of a lot of battles. "Maybe we'll meet up again in the city..." he said, walking away.  
"Maybe...you never know in this world...?" walks off to the Women stores..." Hey Mina what do you think of this Dress...It looks pretty Ravishing...Doesn't it?" asks Rei....  
"Yes I think I rather like it...It would look good on you..." states Mina...with admiring eyes.  
"Yes I think I will buy this one...Excuse me...Madame...I will like to buy this dress." says Rei to the sales lady.  
The "lady" turned around, a bit annoyed. Rei realized her mistake, but had to admit, the long auburn braided hair did make this boy look like a girl from behind! But in the front, it was clearly a boy. "DO you MIND??" he asked. "Try checking before inquiring, 'M'lady'!" he fumed at her, Amythest eyes flashing. He apparently took the comment as an insult.  
"Duo, stop yelling at the customers!" the manager yelled. "If you want them to stop calling you a girl, cut your hair!"  
"WHAT?!" Duo yelled. "Cut my hair? THAT sir, is an insult! I quit!" he yelled, stalking out, hitting Rei's shoulder on the way, not bothering to apologize.  
"Sorry about that," the manager said. "He'll be back, he always comes back. He just likes the attention."  
"No I'm Sorry...I had no idea who I was talking to...I am Sorry about that....Sir." apologizes Rei profusely.  
"Oh, it's all right," the manager said, as he looked at Duo, who indeed returned to the door looking a bit sheepish. "ISN'T it, Duo?"  
"Yes, sir..." Duo mumbled. "It's quite all right..."  
"Good, now do your job..." the manager said, walking away. Duo returned to his place behind the counter. "I'd say....800 rupees would be a fair price for this little beauty," he said, inspecting the dress. "Yes, fine silk, some polyester, about 5% cotton, rubies sewn in...a fine find indeed, I actually will raise that price to 1,000..." Rei...."Are you...Fucking serious...1,000 rupees...I would say it is at least....600 rupees at least." states Rei.  
"That is right...AT LEAST....but I'm hitting at the MOST it costs about...oh, say...1,400...so 1,000 is relatively in the center. Wouldn't you think it sounds LOGICAL to hit the center?" Duo asked, steepling his fingers, elbows lying on the counter.  
"Well then lets say about....800....and we will call it a deal." bargains Rei.  
Duo shook his head. "1,000...it's that or I'll have to have security confiscate that dress and the other clothes you bought today, even if they're from other stores..." he said, readying his fingers next to a whistle around his neck.  
Rei finely states..."Fine you really draw...a HARD...bargain...but fine have it your way...I never met a man who would be so...insecure about...bargaining...with a Captain of a ship. "Pays the money and leaves with Mina...carrying the bag with the Dress.  
Duo wasn't listening. He was shaking the bag of rupees she gave him. He smirked and pocketed the rupees. He then left the store casually. The "manager" Rei had talked to was waiting outside. "Nice work, Duo..." he said. "You really do know how to bargain." "HEY YOU TWO!" came a yell from the store. Right past Rei ran Duo and the other man...followed by the REAL manager of the clothing store. In short, Rei had given her money to a common thief.  
Rei ran and sooner or later...got in front of them while they did not notice Her and her CREW...DUO BASICALLY RAN RIGHT IN TO HER SWORD. "Hey Buddy...you might want to watch were your going....? oh and who you are dealing with....! just to give you a hint..." while Rei was saying this Zechs was walking by the group.  
  
Zechs jumped at the sight, the young bleeding boy being desperately protected by his friend, while a man, and Rei and her crew were all yelling at the two. "Hey!" Zechs yelled. "I thought I told you to stay away from my crew members!" he yelled at the boy that was with Duo. The boy looked up and saw the helping glint in his eye for just a fraction of a second.  
"Oh, I'm sorry, sir! But Duo here agreed to help me out just because I told him I'd pay him if he did!" the boy was saying, mock frantically.  
"It's fine, now get out of here!" Zechs said. The boy ran quickly, leaving Duo in good hands.  
"M...Mr. Merquis..." the manager stammered. "This...this boy is a part of your crew?"  
"Yes, Duo's our second gunner..." Zechs said. "He likes to help out poor homeless kids by helping them get money, one way or another..."  
"Th-that's right, sir..." Duo said, holding his side, realizing this blond man was trying to help him. "I'm sorry..." he said, giving the manager his pouch of rupees.  
Rei states "Actually that is our money we were robed of it by your crew member.... Zechs."  
"Well, you have the dress, and even if you paid to the wrong person, the money rightfully belongs to the manager as long as you have the dress," Zechs said. Duo smiled. This man sounded a little bit like him.  
"Couldn't have said it better myself," Duo smiled.  
"Are you going to be okay?" Zechs asked the auburn haired boy. Duo nodded and struggled to his feet. "Come on, it's time to go home..." Zechs said. He limped off, helping the injured Duo as well.  
Rei simply sighs" men what do with them and what do we do with out them. Everybody lets go home..." They all go back to the ship. When they are finally on the Ship..."Haruka Set course for Amber Island." "Yes M'lady." states Haruka.  
"HEY!" there was a yell from the dock, just below where they were. "GIRLS! HEY!" The sun was setting and they couldn't imagine who it could be. They looked over and Trowa was standing there. "HAVE YOU SEEN QUATRE? HE HASN'T COME BACK, WE'RE REALLY WORRIED!"  
Rei just stares at him..."Uh no we haven't seen him yet....but we will help you look for him."  
Trowa smiled. "Thanks!" he shouted. He left to find Quatre, leaving Rei's crew wondering whether the strange boy really did worry about Quatre, or the younger pirate owed him a blow job.  
"Should we go help them go find Quatre or should we head for Amber Island?" ask Serena.  
"I think we should help a little bit...just to be nice." suggests Rei, Rei and her crew go help find Quatre.  
  
Meanwhile in another part of the island, closer than they thought, Quatre was wondering around. "Oh, I knew I shouldn't have strayed away from the others, but the dress was so pretty, and it was on SALE!" Quatre said to himself. The sun had set and Quatre pulled his shirt tighter around him. "Brr...it's cold here at night..." he muttered, sitting on the ground and shivering.  
"Hey, kid," came a cold voice. Quatre looked up and the cruel face of Farfello of the Weiss Kreuz was looking down at him. He had blood red hair and an eye patch over one of his eyes. "You're from the Tallgeese II, aren't you? Yeah, you're the little whore child," he smirked, pulling Quatre up by his collar. "Don't you know it's dangerous to travel around islands you don't know at night?" Farfello asked cruelly, baring his fangs. He was among four well known vampires of the Weiss Kreuz, the other three standing behind him. The others were Shulderich, orange haired and deadly handsome, literally, Bradly, black-haired with a pair of glasses that made him look less deadly than he really was, and Nagi, young and not so innocent.  
"Hey Buddy...why don't you pick on somebody your own size..?" said a very pist and attractive young woman. Sword pointed at Farfie.  
"Why don't you just stick that sword up your ass along with the stick?" Farfello retorted. "Mind your own business, bub!" he hissed, not letting go of his hold on poor Quatre.  
"Please help me!" Quatre sobbed. "I don't wanna become a Bloody Mary! I hate alcohol!" "Bradly, take care of that guy while I take care of dinner..." Farfello directed. Bradly laughed evilly and advanced on the intruder.  
"Take a step closer...and I'll shred you like last weeks cheese and turkey sandwich." said the voice.  
Bradly laughed. "I like fighting hard battles as much as the last person, but please..." he said, gesturing to the sword. "Go ahead, make my day, but every second you waist just brings more of a guarantee that your little friend here is going to leave a little...shall we say...pale? You see, vampires are not harmed by SWORDS."  
"So your point is that I shouldn't use a sword...but this...(pulls out a wooden stake)...now that is much better." grins the voice.  
The four blinked. "Can you believe this kid?" Shulderich sighed. "Threatening us with wooden stakes? Might as well put the kid down, Farfie." He then added on, "Then we'll go hide from the sunlight..." The others burst out laughing.  
"You listen to too many wives tales, kid. Wooden stakes doesn't kill vampires. Sure they HURT LIKE HELL, but that's about it," Bradly grinned. "There's only one thing that kills vampires."  
"Why don't you come closer and tell me what it is that would kill you guys..."  
"Oh, sure we will..." Bradly said sarcastically. "What kind of morrons do you take us for? We're vampires, not idiots!"  
"Well then...I'll come to you..." Rei takes a few steps closer and when she is in the Light. The Boys get a big surprise.  
"Oh...my..." Nagi stammered. He was looking at her chest. "She has..."  
"Don't look, Nagi!" Farfello warned. "She's a woman! She'll put you under her spell!" It was too late. The little brown-haired vampire had already taken a few steps towards Rei.  
"Dammit!" Bradly yelled. "Nagi, snap out of it!" "Yes come to me...little one...(once he came to her...she kick him were the sun don't shine. Really hard)."  
Nagi made a strange sound that sounded like a squeak mixed in with the words 'Fuck you'. He then slumped to the ground. "Hey, you can't do that to him! He didn't do anything!" Bradly shouted.  
"Yeah!" Farfello agreed. "You should do it to him instead!"  
"Yeah! Huh?" Bradly gained a rather dumb look. "HEY!"  
"OKAY..." by the time she was done with Bradly..(meaning that she beat the crap out of him)she went on to the others.... the next thing you know is that all four of them were on the floor crumpled in the fetal position. "Quatre are you ok?" "I...I'm okay..." Quatre stammered, getting a bit of a worried look on his face. "Thank you, Rei-sama..." he said, with a bit of a bow. "Lets take you back to the Tallgeese II, I bet you that Trowa is worried about you?" sighed Rei. "T...Trowa?" Quatre blushed. He then looked at her straight in the eyes with a rather concentrated look. Then his face turned to surprise. "You're serious."  
"Yes....,Come on" Rei dragged Quatre along the road until they were at the Tallgeese II.  
"Quatre!" Trowa exclaimed. He was going to run to greet him, but Wufei was quicker.  
"Quatre, where have you been?" Wufei asked, embracing his best friend. "You got the whole ship into a worry!"  
"I'm sorry..." Quatre simply said. He then turned back to Rei and bowed again. "Thank you again, Rei-sama," he said.  
"No problem...anytime you need me...just call....Bye" Rei turned to go back to her ship.  
Nearby, the four vampires watched disgruntled. "Owie, my whompy!" Nagi said. "It still hurts!"  
"Excuse me, your WHAT?!" Shulderich exclaimed.  
"Whompy!" Nagi repeated. "Farfie called it that last night when I was passing his quarters!"  
"Oh DID he?" Bradly said. "Farfello?"  
"Uh," Farfello stammered. "I heard it from Youji?"  
Serena over heard them...."excuse me...Whompy?"  
The four vampires looked at her, each other, then ran away screaming.  
"Get away from us!"  
"Don't hurt us!"  
"Have mercy!"  
"Spare our whompies!" "NAGI!"  
  
"I just wanted know what it meant?" screamed Serena....but she headed back for the Ship. When she got to the ship she went up to Rei and asked, "what does whompy mean and what is it?" Rei just looks at her...and says "go ask Zechs..."  
When Serena asked him, Zechs sighed. He whispered something to her and her eyes widened. She looked at him, screamed bloody murder, and ran the direction the vampires went, screaming, "WAIT FOR ME!!"  
  
"Serena get back here? NOW!!!!!!" ordered Rei...  
"coming...." 


	4. Amber Island

Amber Island  
  
The crew of the Tallgeese II set sail for Amber Island, dressing to impress on the Masquerade island. Donning outfits and matching masks, along with maybe a little make up here and there, they all turned out wonderful. The sailing was smooth, and Duo was shown the ropes on the way. When they got there, they found that everyone one else there also wore beautiful costumes.  
  
They all exited the ship, proud of their array of costumes. Heero wore a plain tuxedo and a black mask with a top hat and cane. Duo wore a full black body suit and a shiny black mask that was pointed up on both ends. Trowa wore a pair of tight black pants, a white dress shirt (half unbuttoned) and a green mask that matched his emerald eyes. Quatre and Wufei decided on something different. They both wore flowing emerald dresses and peacock-feathered masks. Zechs decided on a white tuxedo and a silver mask, and Noin wore a dress and mask that matched it. Sally's dress was cut off at her mid-thighs and green, and her mask was black. Treize wore a royal blue suite and a blue cape with a blue mask.  
  
When they got to the ballroom they saw that the people who were from the Fire Soul. When Zechs walked in to the room he couldn't take his eyes off Rei when he found her at the Ball. Rei was wearing a deep red squinted gown with matching red Pumps with a blood red mask with rubies on it. The bodice of the gown went sort of like a v neck but went down a little bit further. Serena was wearing her silver millennium gown. Lita wore a deep forest green gown with emerald gems sewn on to the gown with a green mask with green squints. Haruka wore a tux that was all black except for the white shirt with a yellow mask. Then there was Ami who wore a ocean blue gown..with a v neck witha light blue mask. Minako was wearing a yellow- orange gown with topaz gems sewn on to it with a white mask. She was also wearing white pumps to along with the white mask.  
  
When Zechs walked in to the room, Rei stole a glance at him, but then went back to talking to the host of the ball. "Well it was really nice of you to host this wonderful party for us. It is so much fun! I never seen so many people dressed up for a ball in a long time."  
"Hey its no problem, I like to meet the crew of the ships coming through the Island." explained Darien who was the host of the party. Who had dark black hair and ocean blue eyes. Was at the height 6'1".  
"Hello, Darien!" a young boy no more than 10 in a purple dress shirt and white pants and a white mask, with long brown hair that he didn't even bother tying back and dark eyes, said.  
"Well, hello, Rudolf!" Darien greeted. "Glad you could make it!" "I'm glad I did," Rudolf smiled. He turned to Rei and asked her, "And good evening to you too, ma'am. May I ask you your name?" Though this child was very young, he was obviously well educated in both English grammar and etiquette.  
"Well such manners...Yes you may. It is Captain Rei Sanada of the ship 'The Fire Soul'." giggled Rei.  
"Hey Darien....someone is giving us a streak/strip show...on the table." says a young man who came running up to Darien with blonde hair in a bowler cut and blue eyes.  
"Oh wonderful, Excuse me Cap. I'll be right back." explain Darien.  
"Oh please, go ahead." grinned Rei. "So what is your name?"  
"Oh Ryan Johnson," stated Ryan, as a young girl of 16 or 17 came up next to him, who had reddish brown hair and Cobalt blue eyes. "and this is my Girlfriend Jennie McGrady."  
"Nice to meet you both, tell me...I was just talking to Darien and he has agreed to be a part of my Crew, would you like to join also?"  
The 2 teens just look at each other and say " Would we ever?"  
Just then the mad streakier jumped off of the table and ran up to them, two bottles of wine in each hand. "Hey, Rudolf!" he said. He had spiked brown hair and dark eyes, his hair long in the back in a tight ponytail. There was a red strip under his right eye, the mark of a Zoidian.  
"VAN!" Rudolf yelled. "Please! Make yourself descent!" He closed his eyes and looked away.  
"Oh my...Sir, please get dressed" complained Rei.  
"Okay, Van!" came a voice behind the mad streakier said. Behind him was a man with spiky hair, fairly long hair, in a ponytail, and wearing a blue outfit, a red bandana, and an eye patch over his right eye. "Your reign of nakedness ends HERE!"  
"Aw, Irvine, you're just jealous!" Van said, drinking another bottle of wine.  
"Please! Take him away!" Rudolf yelled. "I'm SO sorry for this!" he quickly apologized to Rei.  
"Uh, I see...I understand he is drunk." explained Rei. "just take him away, please." After Rei says this a girl comments "Wouldn't surprise me if his friends did that as well." Before Rei could reply.. Jennie exclaimed "Lisa Calhoun....is that you?" "Jennie....My dear Cousin...How good to see you?" squealed Lisa.  
"I see you to know each other, would you like to join our Crew?" asked Rei.  
"oh please could I" squealed Lisa again.  
"Yes." says Rei as she takes a quick glance a Zechs.  
Zechs walked up to see what had happened. "Hello everyone!" he said cheerfully. He then turned to Rudolf. "Good evening, your highness," he said bowing.  
"Good evening, Zechs," Rudolf smiled.  
"Hello, Zechs." Grinned Rei.  
"Hello, Rei," Zechs replied. "Say, wasn't that Van?" he asked. "He's going to be the new crewmember."  
"Oh, NO!" Rudolf groaned. "Pardon my rudeness, but you promised I could RIDE on YOUR ship until we got to the Gold Island! That means I'll have to spend the whole time with him!"  
"I thought you like spending time with him," Zechs said.  
"I do, when he's not drunk," Rudolf retorted.  
"I'm joining too so he's the least of your worries," came a voice behind Zechs. A boy about Van's age stood behind them. He had silver spiked hair and dark eyes. A red pointed mark on his right cheek marked another Zoidian. He wore a red dress shirt and black pants with a red mask. "The name's Raven."  
"Why Hello, Raven.. I'm Rei Hino...Captain of The Fire Soul." smiled Rei.  
"Well, did I ask you your name? I didn't think so," Raven said rather indignantly.  
  
"Oh, be nice, Raven," Zechs said. "You know you shouldn't talk to a lady like that."  
"I didn't ask for etiquette lessons either!" Raven retorted. There were a few screams behind him and he sighed. "SHADOW! GET OUT OF THE SNACK TABLE!" he yelled at what looked like a mechanical black dinosaur with glowing red eyes. It growled and came over, each step a mechanical CLANK! "This is my companion, Shadow. He's an organoid. If you say something else I don't like, then he gets an early dinner."  
"Oh...go Screw yourself, Raven." Commented Rei. "You know Zechs I would think you would have better judgment then that....!!!" Rei walks off to the balcony to look at the garden.  
"Nice going..." Zechs muttered to Raven, following her.  
"So, Rudolf..." Raven said with an evil smirk. Rudolf gulped and began to pray.  
"Rei!" Zechs called. "Rei! What's wrong?"  
"What's WRONG..WHAT'S WRONG...I expected a little better manners from one of you crew Members...Even Wufei has better manners....even Heero for that matter...I guess I'm so stupid to think of that he would have Manners....Huh..."  
"Rei, not all pirates can be polite and deadly at the same time," Zechs said, a little annoyed at her critiquing his choosing skills. "Raven may think he's the greatest thing in the world, but he's one of the best fighters out there. You'll see next time we battle him, I'll put him on reserve for you to fight personally."  
"Sure...whatever...you do that...by the way...nice job on the Choosing. I mean that in a good way." states Rei as she walks down the steps into the Garden Maze.  
Zechs sighed. "Women," he said aloud. "Why do they have to be so...so...so complicated?"  
"What's THAT supposed to mean?" Noin asked from behind him. "Come on, Wufei's dancing with Treize, Quatre's dancing with Heero, why can't WE be out there dancing?"  
"All right, let's go," Zechs laughed. Noin took his arm and they went out to the dance floor. Irvine was dancing with Moonbay, a girl with a yellow outfit and yellow mask and two blue Zoidian marks on her right cheek. Van was now fully clothed and much more sober and danced with a girl in a pink outfit with a pink mask, and a orange bow holding her blond hair in a long ponytail. She had a blue Zoidian mark under each eye.  
"Serena, tell the crew I'll be at my ship....tomorrow we are going to Ruby Island..." Rei states to Serena.  
Zechs had been listening from close by and approached Rei as soon as the other girls had disbanded. "Hey, Rei," he said. "I know this hasn't been our best night, but can I make it up to you with a dance and some dinner?"  
"It depends on what's for dinner?" explained Rei. "Im just joking...I don't care what we have for dinner...as long as its food."  
To make a long story short, they went out, danced, had dinner, and had a wonderful time. Soon it was time to go back to the ships. "Hey, I had a good time tonight," Zechs said. "Good night!" he added, heading back to the ship.  
"So did I..." grinned Rei. "Good Night." then she whispers "Jerk.. that's all he's gonna do..."  
  
On the ship, the rest of the crew waited expectantly. "Well?" they all asked at the same time.  
"I told...I told her good night!" he said, breaking down crying.  
"THAT'S ALL?!" almost all of the crew said.  
"I PANICKED!" Zechs complained.  
  
Rei boarded her ship. "Well, what happened?" her crew asked.  
"NOTHING! ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!" Rei yelled. She then went to her cabin. "Prepare to set sail for the Ruby Island!"  
"Yes Ma'am!" Amara said.  
"All right, Zechs! This is what you're gonna do!" Moonbay ordered. "You're gonna go to Rei's ship! You're gonna say you're sorry! You're gonna talk to her! You're gonna kiss her! AND YOU'RE GONNA LIKE IT! DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?!"  
"Yes, ma'am," Zechs said. "But can I just skip the talking part? In fact, can I skip the kissing part too and just cut to having sex with her and get it over with?"  
"NO! You're gonna talk to her, girls don't like it when men go too fast!"  
"Yes ma'am..."  
"I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"  
"Yes ma'am!" Zechs marched over to the Fire Soul. The first thing he thought when he got there was, 'What in the HELL just happened?' He then shook it off and yelled up, "AHOY! I must talk to Captain Rei Hino!"  
"May I ask whom is speaking?" Jennie yelled back.  
"A secret admirer whom loves her more than anything in the world!" Zechs responded. "But you may tell her it's Zechs Merquise, whom is currently the world's biggest idiot!"  
"You don't have to," came a quiet voice from beside the captain's quarters. "Do you really feel that about me?"  
"Of course I do!" Zechs said. "I've loved you since I first met you! You're the most beautiful thing I've ever seen! Your voice is of the morning songbirds! Your eyes are of stars and your hair of the beautiful night sky!"  
"Would you like to come talk to me in my cabin?" Rei asked.  
"Okay..." Zechs said.  
Rei signaled to her crew to set sail for Ruby Island as she led him into the cabin. "Are you saying that you really like me?" she asked Zechs.  
"No, I'm not saying I like you," Zechs said. "I'm saying that I love you, I adore you! Ever since I first laid eyes on you I've been in love in a way I never thought possible!" He took her hand into his hands. "Will you ever forgive me for my behavior tonight?"  
"What about Noin?" Rei asked.  
"What about Noin?" Zechs responded. "She's nothing but late night entertainment. She's behind me being here as much as the rest of the crew!" Suddenly he jumped in realization. "THE CREW!" he shouted. "I've been away too long! We're supposed to set sail!" He ran up to the door and opened it. He gasped when he saw that they were long gone from Amber Island. "REI! You set me up!"  
"For your information buddy, I had NOTHING to do with this! I cant believe that you would accuse me for such a thing!!" Rei shouted, storming to her cabin and slamming the door.  
Zechs yelled at the rest of her crew, "I demand you take me back to my crew!" Almost on cue the Tallgeese II sailed up beside the ship. "CAPTAIN!" Zechs shouted.  
"Ahoy! Come on, Zechs!" Treize yelled, placing a plank between the ships.  
"You can leave," Jennie said, "but it would break m'lady's heart."  
"My CAPTAIN and CREW are my NUMBER ONE PRIORITY!" Zechs growled at her. "And I don't care if Rei was involved or not, I may never trust Rei's crew again!"  
"Then you don't care about Rei!" Jennie accused.  
"I still care about her," Zechs said. "She's still the most beautiful thing in the world to me and the only girl I can ever love, but I must take care of my crew." Zechs took the plank off as he boarded his ship.  
As the ships parted, Zechs saw Rei crying in her cabin on her bed. "I'm sorry Rei," he said, leaving the rail. For a moment before he left the rail, Rei's eyes met his.  
"Are you okay?" Rudolf asked, walking up to him.  
"I'll be fine," Zechs smiled. "Aren't you supposed to be at sword training?"  
"I'm done. Wufei says I'm a natural," Rudolf grinned. 


	5. Ruby Island

At Ruby Island, the crew of the Fire Soul signed up for the different competitions. Darien and Amara in shooting, Makoto in cooking, Serena in eating, Minako and Lisa in modeling, Rei and Ryan in Archery, Ami in art, and Jennie in fencing.  
  
The crew of the Tallgeese II was right behind them. Treize and Wufei took fencing, Heero and Silver took shooting, Duo and Van took eating, Trowa and Sally took cooking, Zechs, Irvine, and Noin took archery, Quatre and Rudolf took art, Moonbay and Fiona in modeling.  
  
"Attention!" came the voice over the intercom, "all participants in the archery compitition please report to the field!"  
  
As soon as everyone was there, the voice announced the participants. "Today, competing in the archery compitition, is Rei Hino, Ryan Johnson, Zechs Merquise, Irvine...uh...just Irvine I guess, and Van Ta..Ta...uh...aw, hell, forget it. Also competing are returning champions Legolas Greenleaf and Rowen Hashiba! That's Hashiba, right? Ok, I got it right! Rowen Hashiba!"  
  
"Mars Fire Soul," whispers Rei and she lets go of her arrow. The arrow not only hit the target, but her whole target caught fire.  
  
The others whistled. "Not bad..." Legolas commented. He stepped up and drew his arrow. He shot at her burning target. He split her arrow in half Robin Hood style and a sort of gust of wind spread from his arrow, and the fire went out.  
  
"Not Bad your self, Rambo." Rei says as she shoots another arrow.  
Zechs shot his before hers got to the target and the arrow split hers in half in mid air. It hit the target as the two split sections each hit the ring outside of the bull's-eye.  
  
"Nice one, hot stuff." as she walked to the local pub.

The compitition kept going, and soon Ryan and Noin had been defeated. But the compitition had just started for Zechs, Legolas, and Rowen. Irvine had been disqualified for using his eye patch, which was a target sensor as well. Rowen's golden arrows were indestructible, Legolas' Elven senses were unbeatable, and Zechs' skills were untarnished. At least, all three were true until the...uh...well the round was somewhere in it's 50s by this time. Rowen was knocked out of the compitition because of Legolas' tricks, which had knocked Rowen's last arrow into orbit.  
  
Zechs whistled, looking up and shielding his eyes. "I think that one's gonna hit the moon..." he said.  
  
"Well, I should hope so," Legolas stated. "That was my goal."  
  
"I hate Elves," Rowen growled.  
  
"I heard that!" Legolas said, hitting Rowen upside the head with his bow.  
  
To make a long story short, the compition went on well into the night...and morning. "Is there something you want to tell me?" Legolas smirked. He'd become very fond of Zechs (Not THAT kind of FOND!). "But enough playing around, time to end this!"  
  
Zechs shot his arrow but a sudden gust of wind seemed to make it spin in place and hit the ground. Protruding out of the target was now Legolas' newly shot arrow. "Game, set, match," Legolas simply said.  
  
Zechs laughed. "Indeed!" he walked to the pub for a meal, for he hadn't had one in about 10 hours, and saw Rei there.  
  
"Hey Bartender, can I have another..." gargled Rei, because obviously she had been there for 2 hours....Drinking. She had also been talking to Chad the Bartender, asking him to join her crew. But Chad had other Ideas with Rei. Thinking that she wanted more then wanting him on her crew. Just when Zechs walked in Chad decided to escort Rei to the back Room. When Rei realizes what was happening to her, she decides to try to fight back. Then when she struggles against her new crew member. He back hands her so she hits the wall then the floor with a blood curling thud.  
  
"HEY!" Zechs yelled. "What do you think you're doing?!" He ran up to Chad and pushed him away from Rei. Legolas was right behind him, now becoming a new member of Treize's crew.  
  
"That's a good question," Legolas growled. "What DO you think you are doing?" He held Chad back as Zechs picked Rei up.  
  
"I was just getting to know my Boss a little more.." said a pretty drunk Chad, to the now pissed off Zechs.  
  
"Yeah, well you don't see me trying to get to know Treize a little more by getting him drunk off of his rocker and sleeping with him..." Legolas said.  
  
"Gods, I hope not..." Zechs snickered.  
  
Just as Zechs said that Rei groaned because her head hurt more than like hell. "I'm gonna take her back to the ship," Zechs said, carrying Rei to the door.  
  
"And YOU'RE coming with us," Legolas said, pulling Chad by his ear like a schoolboy who just said a bad word. "And you can deal with her crew."  
  
"Oh shit....Now you are gonna pay for pulling my EAR...." says Chad taking a swing at Legolas.Now the 2 were going at it for about an hour....Until finally Legolas knock Chad out. Meanwhile at the Fire Soul, Zechs is tending to Rei's Wounds in her cabin. He wrapped her head up in bandages and gently placed an icepack on her cheek. He then stood up and left the cabin.  
  
When he got outside the cabin Legolas was there, Chad thrown over his shoulder. "And WHAT am I supposed to do with THIS?" Legolas asked.  
  
"Throw him in the brig and chain him to the wall, at least until he's sober," Zechs said.  
  
"How about I chain him to the wall until the crew finds him?" Legolas asked.  
  
"Good enough," Zechs grinned. He assigned Minako to watch Rei, then went back to the Tallgeese II with Legolas. When they got there Treize and the crew seemed to have heard the news.  
  
"Is Ms. Sanada alright?" Rudolf asked. "I was worried when I heard what happened."  
  
"News travels fast around this island..." Zechs commented. "Who told you?" He regretted asking when Rudolf listed the whole order that the news spread through. "I'm sorry I asked," he said.  
  
On the Fire Soul, Rei woke up with a massive headache. "Where Am I?," ask Rei with a groan.  
  
"Your on the ship, M'Lady? Master Zechs brought you back. You were hit on the Head by the new bartender who is on our crew. But now his is in the brig chained to the wall until he's sober." stated Minako.  
  
"so you are saying that Zechs saved me from the sex crazed bartender?" asked Rei.  
  
"Yes, and he asked me to look after you. Until he comes back to see how you are doing? and to also check on the sex crazed Bartender." stated Minako. "You should get some sleep? I'll check on you later."  
  
"Are you going to see Rei?" Legolas asked Zechs.  
  
"Yes, I am," Zechs, said, pulling his coat on.  
  
"Then I am coming too!" Legolas declared.  
  
"If you wish," Zechs stated, leaving the ship. He went to the Fire Soul and to the captain's cabin. "Rei?" he said, opening the door. He was relieved to find her awake.  
  
"Oh, Zechs how good to see you?" smiled Rei. "And Legolas, what a surprise!"  
  
"Good afternoon, Ms. Hino..." Legolas replied with a bit of a bow.  
  
"How are you doing, Rei?" Zechs smiled. "Legolas, go check on our drunken little friend."  
  
"Yes, sir," Legolas said, walking out of the room.  
  
"Oh fine, my head still hurts a little now and then. But other then that, I'm Fine. Ami said I could get out of Bed tomorrow. I can't wait. I have been confined in this bed forever it seems like. I just can't wait to get out and walk on the deck see the sunrise like I do every morning. I've missed those sunrises, just like I have missed those sunsets. But that will be cured tomorrow. I also can't wait to Give CHAD a piece of my mind."  
  
"Well, it will have to wait," Legolas said, coming through the door. "He's still a bit drunk. And I didn't appreciate him trying to bite my leg either..."  
  
"That jerk...wait till I get up..(Starts to get up...)..Ow....my head...." cries Rei.  
  
"Please, don't try to get up..." Zechs pleaded, pushing her by her shoulders back down.  
  
"Yes, don't worry about what happened to me...Sally can sew up the pant leg..." Legolas showed them where a piece of his brown pants had been bitten off in the front and a small cut was.  
  
"But I have to stop...Chad...and I also want to give him a piece of my Mind. Now that my mind isn't drunk...." Rei says while rubbing her temples, because her head hurt.  
  
"He'll be fine when he sobers up. And I'll be right there with you to give him a piece of my mind!" Zechs said.  
  
"And mine as well, then!" Legolas said. "But for now, we must get back to the ship. The sun is starting to set, and I want to make sure I didn't catch rabies from that guy..."  
  
"Well.. okay...night then." agrees Rei as she sits back down on her bed. "See you tomorrow, can't wait."  
  
"Right, see ya," Zechs said. He walked out the door and Legolas followed, simply nodding to Rei. "Are you SURE you're okay?" he asked the Elf.  
  
"Well, it is probably gonna get infected, but as long as I get to kick his ass tomorrow, I am just peachy," Legolas answered a bit disgruntled.  
  
"I'm sorry I asked," Zechs muttered rolling his eyes.Later that night, Rei couldn't wait to go see Chad. So she got up, but just as she stood she fell down with a crash. When Mina heard the crash she came running in the room.  
  
"M'Lady, are you alright?" asked Mina.  
  
"I don't.. feel so good.." replied Rei. After she said that she went in to unconsciousness.  
  
"Oh dear," gasped Mina." Jennie go get Master Zechs...and Ami."  
"Yes ma'am.." said Jennie.Zechs soon came, Legolas, ever faithful, still permanently attached to him. "What happened?" he asked.  
  
"Oh my, is she going to be okay?" Legolas asked Ami.  
  
"She tried to get up.... and...when Mina came in to see what happened, she found M'lady on the floor, holding her stomach...saying I don't feel so good. Then she past out on the floor. Ryan put her back on to her bed. When he was holding her...he said that she was burning up with a fever. I have been trying to break it ever since then."  
  
"Poisoned," Legolas suddenly said.  
  
"What?" Zechs questioned.  
  
"Ms. Hino was poisoned. I can smell it."  
  
"What kind of Poison do you smell? I think I might be able to cure her if I know what kind it is?" stated Ami.  
  
"It's from a drug...that's what I can tell..." Legolas said. He bent down next to Rei and felt her head. "I have confidence in your skills as a doctor, Ms. Mizuno, but I do not think you can cure this."  
  
"It's gonna be a long night, but I think I can do it." sighed Ami. "I think I'm gonna need some help with this, too."  
  
"I can help," Legolas offered. "I know ingredients you'd never think to use in a cure. And besides, I can slow the fever down." He pulled out a bottle from his belt. "This is an old potion that my people have been using for hundreds, maybe even thousands of years." Zechs held Rei up by her shoulders in a sitting position and Legolas poured the potion into her mouth. "It will take some time to go into effect, but the fever will slow down for hopefully enough time to find the cure."  
  
"Good, now lets go Legolas we need to go down to the lab. Would you mind staying here Master Zechs?" asked Ami.  
  
"Yes, I'd like to stay with her. But just let me get something from the ship and tell the captain where Legolas and I are," Zechs answered. He then left, coming back in a few minutes.  
  
"Let us go, Ms. Mizuno. We have much work to do," Legolas suggested.  
  
"Yes we do," stated Ami as she left with Legolas.  
  
Meanwhile, Zechs is sitting by Rei waiting for her to do something. "Rei, please make it through this okay..." he whispered. "I am fully confident that with the combined skills of Ami and Legolas, they'll find a cure and you'll be all right."A few hours later, Legolas came storming out of the lab. "Legolas?" Zechs asked. "What's wrong? Is everything all right?"  
  
"Oh, sure, everything is PEACHY!" Legolas said sarcastically. "I CAN NOT work with that girl! She is SOOOOOO wrapped up in modern means of chemistry that she denies EVERYTHING I suggest because it is so 'OLD FASHIONED'!" He then turned around and yelled back down. "OLD FASHION THIS! I AM GOING TO FIND THAT CURE, WITHOUT YOUR HELP!"  
  
"FINE THEN I'LL TRY TO FIND ONE BY MY SELF, YOU ASS." screamed Ami. "YOU JUST GO AND FIND THE CURE FOR THIS POISON SEE IF I CARE."  
  
"Oh, you humans are so...so...so illogical!" Legolas yelled, flinging his hands into the air. "You excluded, of course," he added at the indignant look that Zechs gave him. "Llie n'vanima ar lle atara lanena!" he yelled at Ami. He then stormed off of the boat and into the forest.  
  
"Jack ass...I'll be in the lab, if anything happens to M'lady, you can holler." Ami says to Zechs, who is obviously going to stay with Rei until she is cured.  
  
A few hours later (again), Legolas ran up to the ship. "I found it!" he yelled. "I found the cure!" He was holding a glass vile full of something purplish.  
  
"You did?" Zechs asked, standing up. He looked at the vile. "This doesn't look much like a cure."  
  
"Hey, it was either this or pink," Legolas retorted.  
  
"Well then lets give it to her, I have a feeling that she isn't gonna make it a second longer." stated Ami.  
  
Legolas nodded and they did a repeat of with the last potion they gave her. When they put her back down, Legolas stated, "Let it spread and it will eventually cure her completely."  
  
"How long do you think it will take?" asked Ami.  
  
"A day, two days at the most," Legolas said. She found that he was looking at her a bit expectantly.  
  
"Legolas, can I talk to you out side. Plus I think that Master Zechs would want to be alone with M'lady." suggested Ami.  
  
"Legolas, really fast before you go," Zechs said before Legolas left. "I just want to say thank you, she would be dead if it wasn't for you."  
  
"It is okay," Legolas smiled. "Just doing my civic duty..." He then followed Ami out.  
  
"I just wanted to say that I am so sorry about not believing in your chemistry. I just hope that this will Cure her soon." sighed Ami.  
  
Legolas sighed. "Do you know how it feels to be completely insulted because of how you learned things? Because of EVERYTHING that made your race what they were? I was perfectly willing to accept your modern chemistry, but it really hurt when you said that my way could not work because it was so old."  
  
"Well...I'm Sorry...I hope you can Forgive me?" asked Ami.  
  
"Of course I can, but try to expand your mind a little," Legolas said. "There is more out there than cities made of stone and lessons written in books. Where I come from, the cities are in the trees and we don't cut them down. And the lessons we are taught are not written in books, they are told by voice and passed on by voice."  
  
"OOOHHHHH Sounds exciting, it would be so interesting and fun to live in the trees. To learn the history of the Elf customs." Ami's eyes glowed with excitement.  
  
Legolas smiled. "Maybe sometime you'll be able to see an Elven city, in fact, my city's on the Gold Island. I wish to return someday, but not without Zechs."  
  
"If things go the way they are going with them. I doubt that Zechs would be able to go with you. But you never know until you try." commented Ami.  
  
"If Ms. Sanada and Zechs must stay together," Legolas declared, "then I guess she will have to come too. I will not leave Zechs."  
  
"Right, you really are devoted to him aren't you?" asked Ami, who was impressed.  
  
"I swore that I would always be there for him. I can not explain it, it is an Elven instinct," Legolas explained. "I guess...I guess he reminds me of the last man I swore my allegiance to. I do not want to let him down this time."  
  
"Good for you, I wish I had that kind of Devotion." sighed Ami.  
  
"You can if you want to," Legolas smiled. "I am going to make sure he does not need anything..." He went into the other room and walked up to Zechs. "Zechs, is there anything you need?" he asked.  
  
"No, I'm fine," Zechs, said.  
  
"Is there something wrong?" Legolas asked.  
  
"It's silly, I was just thinking what happens if your potion does not work?" Zechs said.  
  
"You doubt my abilities?" Legolas asked.  
  
"Why were you doubting Legolas?" asked Ami.  
  
"I just...I don't know, it's just a thought, it has no meaning," Zechs said.  
  
"Thoughts have just as much meaning as words, Zechs," Legolas said, looking down. "And they can hurt just the same."  
  
"Don't Cry...Legolas," said the sympathetic Ami.  
  
"Aw, Legolas," Zechs sighed. "I didn't mean anything by it, honest."  
  
"You just do not understand, Zechs," Legolas said, sobbing. "All I have been trying to do is earn your respect. I swore to follow you and I will...I just do not understand how you can be so cruel..."  
  
Rei stirs a little this movement attracts Zechs. "Rei?" Zechs said. He turned to her. "Rei, can you hear me?" he asked again. He sat on her bed. She didn't move again and he hung his head. "Lost her again..."  
  
Legolas obediently wiped his eyes and sat next to Zechs, and put his hand on Zechs' shoulder. "It will take time, but she will be okay," he said.  
  
"Master Zechs, Why don't you try and get some sleep? You could sleep here on the floor if you want, but you really need to get some sleep." suggested Ami.  
  
"I won't sleep here," Zechs said. "I'll sleep on my ship." He stood up and walked for the door. "Goodnight, Ami," he said before exiting.  
  
"Goodnight, Ms. Mizuno," Legolas said, following Zechs.  
  
"Goodnight, Legolas," whispered Ami, she turns to Rei and just sits there watching her for the rest of the night.  
  
In the Middle of the Night, "Zechs?" said Rei, in the mists of her slumber.  
  
"Jennie, go get Master Zechs and Hurry." yelled Ami.  
  
"Yes, Ami." says Jennie.  
  
At the Tallgeese II Jennie ran up the plank. Stand on the ship trying to think of where Master Zechs. She starts to walks below the deck to go get Zechs.  
  
When she found Zechs, he was in his quarters. Legolas slept in an opposite bed from him. Zechs looked like he was expecting her and before she could say anything he put a hand over her mouth and steered her out of the room. When out of it he whispered, "I think I know why you're here, but be quiet. Legolas has gotten less sleep than I have, so I don't wanna wake him up."  
  
"Then why am I Here?" whispered Jennie.  
  
"Because, you're worried about Rei. And who wouldn't be? I know you suspect I know something you don't, and I do...sort of...listen, it's hard to explain, come to the deck and I'll tell you," Zechs suggested. He led Jennie to the deck and leaned against the rail. "Where should I start? Well, you see, I have a younger sister. She at one point had a little bit of the same problem with men. Always attracting men but not meaning to. She had the same sort of encounter when she was about Rei's age. And encountered the same poison, I realized just as I was there. But the problem was that we didn't get to her in time. We couldn't make a cure for her. She died that night and I've regretted it since. I was waiting for the same symptoms on Rei that went with my little sister. I was relieved when the symptoms started wearing off. But I started thinking that they could have just slown down for all I know. I'm worried, and a little scared, but I can help because I've had expience with this poison." explained the worried Zechs.  
  
"So what are you going to do? Are you going to come with me? or stay here. Then later on we'll let you know what happens, with M'lady that is." questions Jennie.  
  
"I'll go with you," Zechs said. "Only because I don't want to lose someone else I love."  
  
"Then I'm coming too!" came a voice behind them.  
  
They both turned around to see a small form emerged from behind the mast. "Rudolf?" Zechs wondered. "What are you doing out here at this time? I mean, shouldn't you be in bed? I'm pretty sure back home you had a royal bedtime."  
  
"I could ask the same of you," Rudolf retorted. "But I'm going with you, whether you like it or not."  
  
"Why do you want to come?" Jennie asked, bending down to be at his level.  
  
"Because, I feel it's my responsibility as royalty to make sure you make it too and from the 'Fire Soul' safely," Rudolf stated matter-of- factly.  
  
"Van was snoring again wasn't he?" Zechs asked.  
  
"Louder than an angry grizzly with a hernia," Rudolf agreed.  
  
"No one has to live through that, so you can come," Zechs reasoned. "But STAY OUT OF TROUBLE!"  
  
"Oh, you know I don't look for trouble," Rudolf said.  
  
"Yeah, but it sure as hell has a great way of finding YOU," Zechs muttered. "Now, let's go. Jennie, lay down the rules of your ship while we go, Rudolf hasn't been introduced to them. And when he doesn't know the rules, it ups his chances of breaking ALL of them."  
  
Since they had left the Tallgeese II, Jennie 'laid' down all the rules, until they got to the boarding plank of the ship. Soon as they boarded the ship Mina comes running up to Zechs with worry on her face.  
  
"What's wrong?" Zechs asked, grabbing Mina by the shoulders. "Rudolf, she said don't climb the mast! (OOOOH!) Now, what's wrong?" he asked Mina again.  
  
"It's...M'Lady...her fever is back again." whispered Mina, looking down at the floor.  
  
"No...Rei!" he yelled, running past Mina to the cabin. Rudolf, of course, was right behind him. He burst into the cabin and ran over to her. "Rei! Please, don't let it be true (feels her forehead) OH GOD DAMN IT! MY GOD DAMN SHITTY LUCK!"  
  
"What do we do now? We could go ask THAT bartender what he gave her and then find the antidote for it with Ami's help." asks Mina.  
  
Zechs' head seemed to suddenly reel all at once. "No...no, first I've got to take care of something else," he growled. "Rudolf, I've got a very important job for you. I want you to stay here, and when I get back, I want you to tell me how Rei is. Got it?"  
  
"Yes, sir!" Rudolf saluted.  
  
Zechs marched back to the Tallgeese II and into his and Legolas' cabin. He leaned down and hit Legolas on the arm. When it generated no response other than a light groan of 'five more minutes' he loudly yelled, "GET UP, NOOOOOOOW!" Legolas almost jumped out of his tunic, he was so startled.  
  
"Z-Zechs-sama?" he asked, eyes wide at the wild look. "What's wrong?"  
  
Zechs laughed a bit too bitterly for Legolas' tastes. "What's wrong? What's WRONG?! Oh nothing! Everything's FINE! Oh, besides maybe the fact that your antidote turned out to be a little more in the ways of SPEEDING UP THE POISON INSTEAD OF PREVENTING IT!"  
  
"S-sir, I..."  
  
"SHUT UP, I'M NOT FINISHED!" Legolas swallowed. This COULDN'T be a good sign. "You knew that it was going to do that, didn't you?"  
  
"Wha-?"  
  
"I SAID SHUT UP! DON'T INTERRUPT! You wanted her to die, didn't you?"  
  
"NO!"  
  
"You were jealous!"  
  
"NO!"  
  
"You didn't want her to get between you and me!"  
  
"NO!"  
  
"You knew I loved her, you knew I wanted to marry her, so you wanted to kill her and take her place instead! Play it innocent, like you never knew it would happen and play pity on me and you knew I'd fall for the whole...FUCKING...THING!!!!!"  
  
"It's not true! You're upset! You...you don't know what you're saying!"  
  
"Oh, I know EXACTLY what I'm saying! And I'm saying...GET OUT OF MY SIGHTS AND NEVER EVER COME BACK! And if she does die, I am going to hunt you down and make sure to shove one of my biggest arrows up your STUPID SLUTTY LITTLE ASS!"  
  
Legolas was dumbfounded, bamboozled, and all of those other funny words for confused. He didn't know what to say or do, and certainly couldn't believe what he just heard. But anger overcame all of that, anger out of accusation, and he clenched his fists. "You want me to go, then fine, I'll go," Legolas said. "But first, I think there's a little something I'd like to tell you." Zechs raised his eyebrow, absolutely curious, expecting something absolutely wild in Sindarin (Elvish) but what he did say took him by absolute surprise. "You know I don't think about you like that. I'd MUCH prefer your captain." Legolas then turned on his heel and left. Zechs was now all of those funny words for confused.  
  
All of a sudden Zechs looks out the porthole and sees another ship pull up to the 'Fire Soul'. Zechs looks closer at the people on board the ship and sees a young man board the 'Fire Soul'. Zechs freaks out wonder what the Fuck is going on over there. Since that guy came on he had been in Rei's cabin a long time.  
  
Zechs decided to see what was happening. He went over to the 'Fire Soul' to see who was invading his breathing room. He thought it quite interesting that he saw the slave boy and captain from the auction when this journey began talking to Rei. He didn't give it a second thought, though. The young man with ebony hair who entered Rei's cabin instead preoccupied him. He walked up to the cabin door and decided it best to knock, in case there was something he really didn't want to see in there.  
  
Then he heard Rudolf. 'Aw, hell, nothing can be bad in there if Rudolf's still there, and besides, she's unconscious,' he decided. He opened the door, knocking on the way in. "Can I come in?" he asked. He looked in, seeing the young man with three rings, all three connected, and Rudolf laughing absolutely amused.  
  
"Oh, hey, Zechs! Ryo decided that I looked lonely in here and wanted to entertain me," Rudolf said, smiling.  
  
"Really..." Zechs said, looking suspiciously at Ryo. "What have I told you about being in rooms with strange people? (OOOOH!) Now, what do you and your crew want here?" he asked Ryo.  
  
"Technically, it's not my crew..." Ryo said, amusing himself with the rings. "I'm just a gypsy, nothing really to do much with pirating, I'm just good with a sword."  
  
"Well, what are you and the crew you travel with doing here, then?" Zechs asked, losing patience FAST.  
  
"Nothing much, we just heard the captain is sick, and Rowen is helping Ms. Ami with the antidote," Ryo said, and then he lowered his voice, looking around. "And between you and me, I think he has a thing for her too..."  
  
Zechs was very tempted to hit this young man. He was all worried that he was there for other intentions and now realized that all he had in mind was gossip and his magic tricks. "So, what do you think about the captain?" he asked. He had to be sure.  
  
"She's pretty," Ryo simply said, busying himself with the rings again.  
  
"Pretty as in...?" Zechs inquired.  
  
"Pretty as in...um...she has issues with too many guys after her," Ryo shrugged. He obviously didn't know what he was saying, let alone probably that he was even talking.  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?" Zechs asked, automatically taking the defensive.  
  
"That means that a lot of guys would probably do anything to get her," Ryo said, tucking an ebony lock behind his ear and adjusting his red bandana. It was really the first time that Zechs took into point what the young man looked like. He looked maybe three inches smaller than himself, and had dark skin. He wore a tattered red shirt and black pants that had seen better days and a pair of brown loafers. The only sign of any day of old of him being in a truly civilized family was a golden hoop earring on his right ear that was about as big as his own fist (and that's pretty damn big).  
  
'What am I so worried about?' Zechs thought. 'There's no way that Rei would ever associate with such a...VILE animal.' "So...what do you do to earn your rupees?" he asked, just to make light conversation.  
  
"I don't need rupees, but if anything, I perform," Ryo responded. "Material possessions are SOOOOOOO over-rated."  
  
"Oh...how...quaint..." Zechs rolled his eyes.  
  
Ryo blinked. "Quaint? What's that supposed to mean?"  
  
"It means...well..." 'What does it mean?' Zechs thought. He'd heard his collogues use it before and it just sounded like it fit at that moment. He'd never thought to figure out what it meant. But his knowledge couldn't be compared to the knowledge of...of...SWINE. "The definition is too complex for your meager little mind to comprehend."  
  
Ryo stared at him blankly. "Huh?" he asked.  
  
'There,' Zechs thought, triumphantly. 'That has enough big words in it to keep the little maggot occupied for weeks.'  
  
Ami all of came barging in the room with Rowen right behind her. Zechs turned to see that Ami was carrying a vile of some kind of liquid. "We talked to the bartender and we found out what he put in the drink that he gave Rei. Well after we found that out, I told Rowen here what it was we were doing when he got here. He came down to the lab to see if he could help all and us out. So when I did tell him, I found out that he knew exactly what to do for the antidote."  
  
"Good," Zechs states as he watches Rowen pour the liquid down Rei's throat while Ryo was propping her up. 'Okay, strange gypsy boy, touching girl I love, invading my space...' he thought, feeling his left eye twitch.  
  
Zechs felt a little poke and jumped. He'd forgotten all about Rudolf. "Is there something wrong with your eye, sir?" Rudolf asked.  
  
"No, nothing, just...tired, I haven't slept all night because of all this," Zechs responded. "I'm going to go back and to bed. If I'm going to see Rei well again, I think it should be minus bags under my eyes. I suggest we ALL get some sleep. It's been a long day." He gave Ryo a significant look. Ryo raised his eyebrows back and sat back against his chair, having put Rei down to let the antidote do its work.  
  
"I think I'll stay here," Ryo smiled. "I slept on the whole way here."  
  
"Yep," Rowen sighed. "He slept for the last 84 freaking miles. Say hello to the first ever human sloth." Ryo punched him on the arm.  
  
"Of course you would have," Zechs muttered. "Filthy little swine have nothing better to do...but sleep and steal..." The whole room stopped. Ryo looked at him very indignantly. Ami was shocked. Rudolf scratched his head, not really getting what Zechs was saying. Rowen...well, let's just say if looks could kill, Zechs would be dead right now.  
  
"I agree, let's all get some sleep," Rowen declared. "Except you, of course, Ryo." He then walked out of the room. Rudolf yawned and ran off, and then Ami decided that she needed to replenish her strength as well. Zechs left last, exchanging some last minute glares with Ryo before leaving.  
  
As he was leaving, a hand on his shoulder stopped Zechs. "What do you want?" he asked, not even looking back. "I thought you were going to bed, you were so quick to agree with me."  
  
"What do you have against Ryo?" Rowen asked, slamming Zechs' back against the mast.  
  
"Hey, if we must quarrel, why don't we do it where we won't wake young ladies out of their beauty sleep?" Zechs offered.  
  
Rowen smirked. "Yeah, well how about we go somewhere where no one will hear you scream when I break that filthy neck of yours?" he growled.  
  
"Fair enough," Zechs said. "Lead the way, good sir." They went into the forest around the island to find a good place to 'discuss' this issue. "Now, what was your question?" Zechs asked.  
  
"What...do you have...against Ryo?" Rowen asked through clenched teeth.  
  
"Well, let's see...he's absolutely uncivilized, he could use a bath, he's uneducated, he could certainly dress better, he could use a hair brush...should I continue, or do you wish to go to bed before tomorrow?" Zechs inquired.  
  
"Is that it? Some petty differences?" Rowen asked, exasperated.  
  
"Petty differences? Please, we're not talking about mere differences between the higher and lower classes of society! We're talking about gypsies! Thieves! Barbarians! Why, I don't even know why such a man of high class would defend him? For all he's good for, he's no better than a slave!"  
  
"EXCUSE ME!" Rowen shouted. "But it just so happens that one of my crew members is a slave, thank you! And I would appreciate it if you would not insult them in front of me!"  
  
"Oh, this is beauteous! A man of high standards not only defending GYPSIES but also SLAVES! What are you going to defend next? Murderers? Adulterers? Sinners? Lawyers?"  
  
"You know, you are really annoying. There's another reason why you dislike Ryo so much! Now what is it!"  
  
"As if I'd tell you, you little rich snob!"  
  
That was the last straw. They broke out into a wild fight, trying to tear each other limb from limb. The fight went on for hours (notice how a lot of stuff in here does that too?) and, unfortunately, neither was a victor. It turned out that they eventually knocked each other out, but it was lucky the ships sent out search parties for them, and Legolas, who mysteriously disappeared that night. Now, enough about that, let's get to what's really important.Ryo sat by Rei's side for the hours that it took for the antidote to kick in. In the process, the human sloth managed to fall asleep 4 times and only wake up 3. That meant that he was currently out like a light in la-la land.  
  
Rei suddenly moved her hand unintentually. Not even knowing that she had been unconscious for a day or so. But when she realized that she was in bed, she started to get up and then fell back down because she was still week from not eating. But when she looked over at her side she saw that somebody was in the room with her.  
  
"Ryo, wake up," whispered Rei, as she smacked her hand against his knee.  
  
"Wha-?" stammered Ryo waking up with a start. He turned to see Rei looking at him with her big Amythest eyes.  
  
"Rei your up," squeals Ryo with excitement as he gets up to hug and kiss Rei.  
  
"Good to see, it has been awhile hasn't it? What have you been up to?" asked Rei.  
  
"I'll tell you in a minute, but you must be starving!" Ryo exclaimed. He called for Ami, who was excited to see Rei getting better. "Where's Mina?" he asked.  
  
"Tending to your fallen comrade," Ami said in mock-admiration. "Rowen and Zechs got into a huge fight last night. Apparently they knocked each other out cold."  
  
"Wow," Rei gasped. "What were they fighting about?" she asked.  
  
"Apparently Zechs doesn't know how to keep his big mouth shut and it cost him some bumps, bruises, and cuts," Ami replied.  
  
"Legolas must be throwing a fit," Rei chuckled.  
  
"He would be. But he's currently run off, and apparently that was Zechs' fault too," Ami sighed.  
  
"What in this plot ISN'T Zechs' fault?" Rei threw up her hands, only to find that even that hurt from lack of food.  
  
"The antidote that helped you," Ami smiled.  
  
"Nuts, the guy I like, and the one thing he isn't responsible for is the only good thing..." Rei commented.Ami gives Rei some broth and salt crackers. Soon after a few days Rei was back on her feet, wearing one of her beautiful red silk dresses that had a low bodice and was tight in the waist area. This dress looked very sliming on her, since she had such a tiny, slim figure. But as for Zechs he still was in bed unconscious. Rei was by his bed every night until he woke up one morning. Rei was apparently asleep in a chair next to his bed. Zechs woke up to find Rei their. He tapped her knee gently, and she woke with a start.  
  
"Zechs your up," Rei yawned.  
  
"Up and so are you for that matter. I'm glad for that." smiled Zechs.  
  
"Yep and I'm healthy as an Ox." giggled Rei.  
  
"That's great, now as for me. I wish I could say the same but can't." groaned Zechs.  
  
"Well we'll have Sally heal all your wounds." smiled Rei, that said this is going to be fun.  
  
"OH GREAT! Just what I need. 2 Women at my every need." commented Zechs, who slaps his hand against his forehead.  
  
Sally came in at that moment, humming. "Here's your lunch, Ms. Sanada! Oh, hi, Zechs! It's about time you woke up! I'll go tell Noin and she'll help us take care of you!" she said, upon seeing Zechs.  
  
"Oh, great!" Zechs threw up his arms. "Now there's THREE of them!"  
  
"Then who would you rather have take care of you?" Rei asked, putting her hands on her hips.  
  
"I'd tell you, but then you'd kill me!" Zechs said.  
  
"If it's not us then DAMN RIGHT we're gonna kill you!" Sally said.  
  
"TELL US!" Rei demanded, shaking her fists at him, "Or I'm leaving!"  
  
Zechs couldn't help but laugh. He was out numbered, two women to one man. "Promise not to kill me?" he asked.  
  
"Depends on who you say," Rei huffed.  
  
"Well..." Zechs said. "Actually, I kinda miss Legolas. I feel horrible about yelling at him. But..." Zechs sighed and looked down at his hands.  
  
"Well, then Sally you and Noin can take of this womanizer and I'll be going to see RYO and ROWEN, back at my ship." Rei calmly says to Sally. Then she turns to Zechs and says, no more like screams. "YOU S.O.B, HOW COULD YOU BE SO ...SO..UNGREATFUL FOR ALL I'VE DONE FOR YOU. WHILE YOU HAVE BEEN IN THIS BED, UNCONCIOUS!! FOR THAT MATTER." Rei turned around on her heel toward the door and left with a huff as she slammed the door.  
  
"WAIT! REI!" Zechs yells. "Great, I lie and I'm in trouble, and I tell the TRUTH and I'm in DEEP SHIT!"  
  
"Nice going, hot shot," Sally sighed.  
  
Zechs suddenly bolted straight up in the bed. "WAIT A MINUTE! DID SHE JUST SAY SHE WAS GOING BACK TO RYO?!"  
  
"Gee, how observant of you," Sally slapped her forehead. "It only took you about 20 minutes to figure that out."  
  
"REEEIII! WAAAIIIT!" Zechs jumped out of bed...and forgot that he just woke up about a minute ago. "Ow...sharp...pain...running...through...my...spleen..."  
  
"After all that, you're on your own..." Sally muttered, leaving.  
  
"WAIT!" Zechs yelled. He was stuck in his position of looking like he's about to run out of the door, like a statue. "HELP! I CAN'T MOVE!"  
  
"Uh, Zechs..." Noin walked in and stopped.  
  
"Great, can you help me? Just push me on to the bed, my feet are getting REALLY tired!"  
  
"Um...well...I...Are you okay?" Noin didn't know what to say.  
  
"JUST HELP ME!"  
  
"Well!" Noin huffed. "If you're going to yell, you're ON YOUR OWN!" She then left.  
  
"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!" Zechs screamed in frustration. "DAMN IT, WHY ARE ALL OF THE WOMEN LEAVING ME TO FEND FOR MYSELF WHEN I CAN'T EVEN MOVE A MUSCLE?!"  
  
"KEEP IT DOWN IN THERE!" Irvine yelled, punching the floor (ceiling in his room under the room Zechs is in) with a broom. "I'M TRYING TO PLAN A MUTINY IN HERE!"  
  
"SORRY!" Zechs yelled back.  
  
All of a sudden Jennie walked in on Zechs and burst out Laughing. "Sorry. I couldn't help it, But I came because when M'Lady walk up on her ship she wasn't to happy. So I came here to ask you what did you say to her that made her so mad." she says as she is helping him lay on the bed.  
  
"Let's just say that, I didn't need her at that moment. What is she doing now?" asked Zechs.  
  
"Well when she came on board, Rowen came over to her said something about needing to talk to her. That's when I left, to see you." Jennie explained.  
  
"Now what?" Zechs sighed. "You know, no offence, but women are incredibly sensitive. I mean, all I said was that I missed Legolas and she freaked! Goodness, I mean, it's like she's not even worried about what could happen to the kid out there!" Zechs sighed.  
  
Rei slams open the door, Zechs looks up at her and sees that streaming down her face were tears of anger and sadness. "Jennie go back to the ship please."  
  
"Right, I need to talk to Ryan anyway." said Jennie as she left.  
  
Zechs and Rei just look at each other. "How could you?"  
  
"How could I what?" Zechs asked. "Tell the truth? Worry about some poor kid that's out there all alone because I yelled at him? Do you know how horrible I feel about what I did to him? He was loyal to me! He was ready to serve me hand and foot if I ever asked him for it! And I called him a slut! I accused him of trying to kill you! I drove him away and you know why? I DID IT FOR YOU! BECAUSE I LOVE YOU!"  
  
"I'm NOT TALKING ABOUT THAT!! I'M TALKING ABOUT YOURS AND ROWEN'S FIGHTING EACH OTHER. ROWEN CAME UP TO ME AND DO YOU KNOW WHAT HE SAID? TAKE A WILD GUESS!"  
  
"Oh," Zechs sighed, leaning back on his pillow. "That dirty little friend of his. The gypsy boy, quaint little entertainer. What about him? Do you have something you want to tell me about him that I don't already know? Or do you want to leave now? Let's face it, he's loopy, nuts, wacko, poor, dirty, and not worth a GOD FUCKING rupee."  
  
Rei walks over to him, right hooks him across the jaw. "You bastard, Do you have any IDEA of who your talking about?"  
  
"I'm talking about a gypsy, a thief, for all I know he's PROBABLY a whore!" he said, standing up and facing her. "What do YOU care about him? Do you love him more than me?"  
  
"Of course I Love him, and do you know why I love him?" Rei yells right in his face.  
  
"NO! I don't, why don't you educate Me." yelled Zechs who through his hands in the air.  
  
Rei right hooks him and then knees him where the sun don't shine. Zechs doubles over in pain, holding his stomach and falling on the floor. "Because His name is RYO SANADA, Does that name ring any Bells?"  
  
Zechs sits there thinking 'Where have I heard that name before? Wait isn't her name Sanada. Oh shit now I've done it.' He looks up at her from his fetal position. "Your name is Sanada."  
  
"Yeah you are fucking Idiot."  
  
"Wait are you telling me that you are married that Little Maggot!"  
  
"NO I'm telling you that, RYO SANADA, is 2 and 1/2 years younger than me. Why the hell would I be married to a guy who is 2 and 1/2 years younger me."  
  
"I don't know, because you liked the guy."  
  
"No you idiot! He's MY BROTHER."  
  
"Wait so you are telling me that, Ryo, Is a guy who is in such lower class then you is your Little brother." Zechs yells as he get to her level again.  
  
"Yep that's exactly what I am telling you. Thanks to you I'm doubting if I should ever see you again. Those words you spoke to Rowen about were Harsh. You know what I'm leaving," whispers Rei as she turns toward the door. "Oh and don't ever come near me, my crew, my family, my ship, and Ryo's ship again. I want nothing to do with you." With that she left slamming the door.  
  
As Rei left the ship, someone smiled and snuck onto it. "Mr. Merquis?" he inquired.  
  
Zechs turned around. "Oh, come on, you've got to be kidding me!" he yelled up at the ceiling. "WHAT do YOU want?"  
  
"I'd be nice to me, especially after all that," Ryo snickered. "She won't be happy if you've been picking on her little brother again."  
  
"Just...answer my question," Zechs growled, restraining from strangling Ryo.  
  
"I'd just like to say that that was...a rather agreeable performance my sister put on," Ryo stated, gently fingering at the blade of his sword.  
  
"WHAT is that supposed to mean?"  
  
"It means..." in one quick swing the tip of Ryo's sword was at Zechs' throat, "...stay away from my sister, or I'm going to seriously kill you, you bastard."  
  
"I don't think you have the authority to demand anything from me, gypsy," Zechs said calmly as his hand moved, unnoticed, behind him to the dresser. Ryo gasped and fell back as Zechs' sword knocked his away in a flash of light. "Now I'll have to kindly ask you to leave my cabin, in fact, leave this ship." Ryo glared at him and quickly grabbed his sword, running off of the ship.After their little encounter, Rei and Zechs haven't been talking to each other. Now they were on their way to Topaz Island for the Racing contests. Since Haruka was the best Racer on the 'Fire Soul' and there were other racers on the 'Tallgeese II' and 'The Dynasty'. They had just reached the island all of the crew from the 'Fire Soul' wondering in and out of the shops. Rei and Ryo were with Haruka sign up for the races. When all of a Sudden when the three of them were laughing about something. When Zechs and Moonbay were walking their way to the signing table.  
  
"Well, well, looks like I've got a little bit if competition," Moonbay snickered. "Well, may the best woman win," she finished.  
  
"Same to you," Haruka smiled, holding out her hand. Moonbay gladly shook her hand.  
  
"Come on, Moonbay," Zechs said. "It's getting crowded around here. We've got to meet the others, they promised that the car would be ready when we got there."  
  
"We've got a car?" Moonbay asked. "I thought we were going to bye one while we were here."  
  
"It would take too long, so we decided to try something else," Zechs smirked. "Come on." He pulled her arm, dragging her away as she just finished signing in.  
  
"That was interesting, Ryo you stay here with Haruka. I'm going to the Pub." stated Rei. "Don't worry, this time I'm prepared."  
  
At the pub, Youji and the crew of the Weiss Kreuz were having a pre- race drink. The Vampires were there too, and they were absolutely avoiding all of the females, especially Rei.  
  
"Oh, come on, Omi! Just drink it!" Ken laughed, slapping the young slave on the back. Omi just looked at the ale in his hands a bit unsurely. "Omi, it's not gonna bite you! Hey Rei, Omi needs a little provoking, wanna help?"  
  
Rei walks over and sits down. "Hey Omi, would you rather me KISS YOU or you have this drink?"  
  
Omi looked at the drink then her, then the drink again. He then set the drink down and grabbed her and kissed her. Zechs walked in at that moment and saw the kiss. He was jealous, but played it cool. He didn't want Rei to know he was jealous, he figured that's what he was playing for.  
  
"Hey, bartender, give me a 'Get Naked'!" Rei yelled (the bartender was bartending at the other end of the counter).  
  
"Coming right up!" in a quick second (it's a fast bartender) Rei had a HIGHLY alcoholic drink in her hands.  
  
Omi gently tugged on her dress. "Excuse me, but a...'Get Naked'?"  
  
"Sure, you want a sip? It's good for the soul..." Rei offered.  
  
"No, thank you, I'd rather keep my clothes on," Omi said.  
  
"Having fun over here?" Zechs asked, putting a hand on the bar counter on the other side of Omi, between the kid and Ken.  
  
"I thought I told you to stay away from me, jerk," Rei says, taking a drink.  
  
"I wasn't talking to you," Zechs raspberries her.  
  
"I'm having...an interesting time," Omi said. He then whispered to Zechs, "That's the first time I've ever actually kissed a girl..."  
  
"Ahh..." Zechs raised his eyebrows and ordered a drink. "Um, what's their problem?" Zechs asked, pointing to the other end of the bar counter where the vamps had snuck off to.  
  
"They're afraid of Rei," Omi answered. "Nagi said it was something about a whompy."  
  
"Riiiiiight...I remember now..." Zechs said. "I've never been question about that word before that day. Poor Serena's going to be scarred for life." He then turned to Rei. "So, how's the maggot?"  
  
"I SAID DON'T TALK TO ME!" Rei yelled.  
  
"Sorry for trying to bring up light conversation," Zechs muttered. He lowered his voice so that only Omi could hear. "So, how good of a kisser is she?"  
  
"More or less, guys kiss better," Omi whispered back. Zechs simply patted him on the head and decided to leave the conversation at that. He then went over to see the vamps and made a nice conversation with them (which is an accomplishment, considering they don't know the meaning of "nice").  
  
Rei gulped down the rest then turned to the bartender. "Hey Buddy, another round and One to go for a friend."  
  
"What friend would that be?" the bartender asked, stirring up the drink.  
  
"Just a gypsy, he'll be here shortly," Rei answered.  
  
"A gypsy? Hm, I'm sorry, ma'am, but we don't let the likes of them in here. They cause too much trouble," the bartender apologized.  
  
"But, Wait a minute I don't understand. You let THEIVES IN HERE! So why dont you let Gypsies in here." Rei asked, pointing to Zechs.  
  
"Nice try, lady, but he's well known around here. A few years ago, he was the best racer here," the bartender laughed. "He's the first mate of a great ship, and he's no thief!"  
  
"But he stole from me something that can never be replaced!" Rei exclaimed. She then walked off with her drink.  
  
The bartender suddenly whistled, and the man who was standing at the door grabbed her arm. He was about 2/3 her height with long blond hair, tied at the end, a yellow jumpsuit covered in zippers, a red vest, and blue cape with a blueish-black witch's cap with a band and little skull pendant. The most noticeable thing about him was his bluish skin and pointy ears. He carried a staff with a "Celestial Egg" at the end.  
  
"Excuse me, but one, you didn't pay, and two, you can't leave with your drink," the man said.  
  
"Yeah, glasses here are expensive enough without people making off with them," the bartender agreed. Rei nodded, and chugged the drink, putting the glass with some money in it into the bartender's hand.  
  
"Can I go now?" Rei asked.  
  
"Yes, you're going now..." Rei turned around and Chad and Darien were standing there. "The races are starting and you need to sober up now," Darien continued. "Now come on." Darien wrapped an arm around her waist to support her and led her out of the bar.  
  
"Oh! That's right, the races are today!" the bartender exclaimed. "Come on, Wiz! We gotta roll!"  
  
"Wait up, Ray!" the young (yes, he's young for a Wizardmon) Wizardmon exclaimed, running after Ray.  
  
"Come on, guys, I'm up," Youji said, putting out his cigarette and walking out of the bar. The others followed. Zechs was still gripping his glass hard from the sight of Darien with his arm around Rei's waist.  
  
"Come on, everyone out of the bar, it's closing now!" Ray called, locking the door. Zechs finally left last and went to meet up with Moonbay, who was prepping for the race with Youji.  
  
"Wow, where did you get this car?" Youji asked. The car looked like it cost maybe 10,000,000,000 rupees.  
  
"We have our methods," the others smiled. The car was red and had white stripes down the middle. On each side was painted a bright yellow '02'.  
  
"HEY!" someone yelled, running up. "Have you seen my racing car? It's the same model, except blue with purple stripes and the number '98'!"  
  
"Nope," Irvine said, covering up the bit of blue paint that was showing through the red on their car. "Can't say I have..." The others all whistled innocently.  
  
"Well, if you see it, could you return it?" the man asked.  
  
"Sure, whatever," Irvine said. When the man walked away, he muttered under his breath, "Sucker..."  
  
Rei and Chad were discussing how to set up a bar on the ship and that he should run it. Ryo came over to them saying "Haruka is in the Lead racing against Moonbay. And Zechs is over there about to strangle someone." He points over his shoulder and glances at Zechs. Rei bursts out laughing at his facial expression. She sobers up from laughing and says "COME ON HARUKA! YOU CAN'T LOSE! WOOOOOOO!!!!!!"  
  
Moonbay, who was neck-and-neck with Haruka, suddenly smirked. "Time to stop playing!" she yelled. She hit a button and there was a sudden burst of flame from her tailpipe and her car shot foreword. "EAT MY DUST, TEN'OU!"  
  
Haruka smirked. "Now THIS is a race, I was sick of holding back," she muttered. She hit her own NAS and shot foreword. They were again at neck to neck.  
  
"It's gonna be a photo finish!" Ray yelled, jumping up and down. But he was wrong. At the last second, something flashed past Haruka and Moonbay. "Who is that?" he asked no one in particular.  
  
The car that stopped was silver with white stripes, and the number '01' on the side. The photo finish was now to see who was 2nd and third because the mysterious driver had obviously won. "And the winner is..." the announcer seemed to scramble through his cards. "Um...I'm a sorry folk, but he didn't write his name down. Sir! Could you please step out of the car and remove your helmet?"  
  
The guy instead just stuck his head out of the window, removed his helmet, and... "MR. MERQUIS! I WON!"  
  
"Um...congratulations?" Zechs said, blinking and getting his voice back.  
  
"What?!" Moonbay slammed her helmet on the ground. "I LOST TO A 10 YEAR OLD KID! GIVE ME A FUCKING BREAK!"  
  
"Hey Moonbay nice job," Congratulated Haruka.  
  
Rei ran up to Haruka and gave her a big Hug saying, "Nice Race, But to bad you lost. But who cares it the thrill of the race right."  
  
"Yes M'Lady your right, it is the thrill of the Race." agreed Haruka as she got out of the Car. Haruka then was busy talking to Seiji about how he raced and about racing apparently. Rei leaned against the Car and looked at Zechs for a moment then walk towards the docks where all the shops were.  
  
Walking down by the shop windows, Rei turned a corner down a blind ally. Rei was oblivious to the fact that some people were following her.  
  
"Well look here gentlemen look who we have here?" growled the leader of the group.  
  
"Hey, Bradly isn't she the one who destroyed our Whompies?"  
  
"NAGI!" the others yelled.  
  
"SHHHHHHH!" he warned them.  
  
"So, what are we going to do?" Schulderich asked.  
  
"Well, let's see, we have three choices, we can either kill her, kidnap her, or let her beat the crap out of us again. What do you want to do?" Bradly asked.  
  
"Oh! Oh! Can I kill her? PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE?!" Farfello begged.  
  
"No, you may not yet, Farfie, now shut up! (OOOOH!) Who else votes for killing her?" Bradly asked. Schulderich raised his hand eagerly.  
  
"Okay, who wants to just kidnap her and hold her for ransom?" Bradly asked next, raising his own hand. Nagi raised his. "And who wants to have her beat the crap out of us? (cricket chirps) Okay, then. Time to flip a coin..." he pulled out a gold coin (from their homeland) and said, "Alright, Farfie, heads I win, tails you lose." He flipped the coin and it landed tails. "Tails, YOU LOSE!"  
  
"Dammit...HEY!" Farfello jumped on Bradly. "You little..."  
  
"OH, STOP IT!" Schulderich yelled, stepping between the two. "You can rip each other to shreds later! (OOOOH!) But there's a little problem...SHE'S RUNNING AWAY!"  
  
"Wait! Stop! We didn't order fast food!" Farfello screamed running after her.  
  
Rei ran into a boutique and hid in a dressing room. "We know you're in here somewhere..." Bradly said. "Check the dressing rooms, I'll check the lines."  
  
As they walked through the dressing rooms, they opened several. Nagi soon reached one that was locked. "Aha!" he told himself. He then gave the door a kick.  
  
Rei could hear it from down the rooms. A loud scream and poor Nagi's, "I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY! IT WAS AN INNOCENT MISTAKE! I THOUGHT YOU WERE SOMEONE ELSE! OW! PLEASE STOP HITTING ME WITH YOUR PURSE! OWOWOWOWOWOWOW!"  
  
"Ah, Nagi, with the crowd you're drawing she's gonna get away!" Schulderich yelled.  
  
"I DIDN'T MEAN TO!" Nagi whined. Meanwhile, Rei snuck out of the store and ran down the street, trying to get to her ship where her crew would be there to help her.  
  
"She's down there! Hurry!" Bradly yelled.  
  
"OH SHIT! WOULD YOU FUCKING GET AWAY FROM ME, YOU S.O.B.?!" Rei yelled, desperately picking up a large rock and chucking it at them.  
  
"OW!" Farfello fell to the ground, now with a nice new lump on his head. "That's...gonna...leave a mark..." he said before going out cold.  
  
"Great...Nagi, take Farfie back to the ship, Schulderich, come on, she's gonna get away!" Bradly ordered.  
  
Meanwhile, as she ran, all of the sudden someone grabbed her and pulled her into an alley, covering her mouth. She struggled at first, but then shut up as the vamps ran by. "Aw man, I told you we'd lose her," Schulderich complained.  
  
"Shut up and keep looking, ding-bat," Bradly said.  
  
As soon as they were gone, the man that had grabbed her sighed and let her mouth go.  
  
"What do you think you are doing?" looking up at her rescuer.  
  
"Saving your ass," he said. He pulled her out into the street and she got her first real look at him. His red Japanese clothes, long white-silver hair and...dog ears?  
  
"HOLY SHIT, YOU'RE A DEMON!" she screamed nearly falling back.  
  
"Huh?" the whole street was now staring at him.  
  
"I'M A DEMON, YOU GOT A PROBLEM WITH THAT?!" he yelled at them. They all shook their heads and carried on with their business. "Technically, I'm only half-demon, but my brother's a full demon. Well, anyways, I'm trying to get away from someone myself..." he looked around and lowered his voice. "You wouldn't happen to have seen an extremely annoying teenage reincarnated priestess named..."  
  
"INU-YASHA!"  
  
"Oh, damn... (SIT, BOY!) ACK!" Rei stared as Inu-Yasha hit the ground with a thud, a teenage girl that strangely looked like her was standing above him.  
  
"HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU THAT YOU DO NOT HAVE MY PERMISSION TO GO LOLLY-DAGGING IN THE STREETS WITHOUT ME OR SHIPPO?!" she yelled.  
  
"83...well, I guess 84 now..." Inu-Yasha said, getting up. "Can I go play with my new friend now, Kagome?"  
  
Kagome looked at Rei. "Do you have any experience in Priestess stuff?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Good, if he does anything you don't like just say 'Sit, boy' (THUD!). See? It works even when you don't mean it!" Kagome smiled.  
  
"Oh, you mean like...SIT, BOY!" Inu-Yasha hit the ground like a ton of bricks just as he was getting up.  
  
"Nononono, not so loud, just, sit, boy! (THUD!)"  
  
"Oh, okay, so it's...sit, boy!" Inu-Yasha wasn't having as much fun as they were. Well, you wouldn't be either if you had the same curse put on you.  
  
"STOP IT!" he finally yelled.  
  
The two priestesses looked at each other and at the same time..."SIT BOY!" The two combined left a three foot hole in the road.  
  
Rei whistled. "That's pretty powerful..."  
  
"Play nicely, now!" Kagome practically sang as she skipped away.  
  
"Now, I'm going to ask you. What do you want with me? Are you going to kidnap me too? Because beside having experience in the priestess business. I have experience in the Martial arts. So can I help you?" Questioned Rei as she was helping him out of the hole.  
  
"Kidnap you?" Inu-Yasha asked. "Nah, I don't kidnap people. I'd rather kill them, but that's not what I'm here for. I just have a bone to pick with those vampires. They stole my Tetsuiga sword. I plan to get it back, if it means I have to hunt down all of the demons I can to help. I can't do this alone. I was trained to face demons, not vampires."  
  
"Well, I'll help," Rei said.  
  
"I said I wanted to find DEMONS not mere mortals. Kagome's different, I'm stuck with her," Inu-Yasha sighed. "I was looking for a ride though, so if you don't mind, I'd like to hitch a ride on your ship. With Kagome and Shippo of course."  
  
"Excuse me...Shippo?" Rei raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Oh, don't worry, he's a little fox demon, about this big, he wouldn't hurt a fly."  
  
"What the HELL, Why not, sure you guys can come, but I'm the Captain so then you have to obey orders from me." explained Rei, as she grabs his hand and drags him over to her ship. Right as this happens, a shadow sees them grab hands and run towards Rei's ship.  
  
Waiting there at the ship were Kagome and Shippo. "About time you got here," Kagome said.  
  
"How'd you know we'd be here?" Inu-Yasha asked.  
  
"Oh, you know, we heard here and there..." Kagome said. Then she saw they were holding hands and words caught in her throat.  
  
"Would you two like to be alone?" Shippo asked.  
  
"ACK!" Inu-Yasha suddenly let go of Rei's hand. "NO NO NO! That's perfectly fine!" he said, bowing quickly.  
  
"Yeah, that didn't mean we were...you know..." Rei said, blushing. "I was just leading him to my ship."  
  
"Sure..." Shippo said, giggling.  
  
"HEY! WAIT FOR ME!" a yell suddenly sounded. Ray and Wizardmon came running up for some odd reason. "She promiiiiiiiised!"  
  
"Who? What? Where? When? Why? How?" Rei asked, confused.  
  
"Mina and I made a bet and she said that if Haruka-chan didn't win the race I could join your crew!" Ray explained. "Oh, and Wiz can come too, she said."  
  
"Whoa are you saying that you are now going to LIVE HERE with us. MINA!!!" yelled Rei.  
  
"Yeah sorry about that, I was going to run it by you but you were not anywhere to be found." giggled Mina nervously.  
  
"Ok, before I get a Migraine. You can come with us, BUT YOU HAVE TO FOLLOW MY RULES!"  
  
"Of course, I always follow rules," Ray smiled. "Oh, and if one of your crew members gets blown away by Wiz, it's their fault, he's very jumpy..."  
  
"Great..." Rei said, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Just...brilliant..."  
  
"Come on, Wiz...maybe we can get to know our fellow crewmembers by tonight," Ray said.  
  
"Right!" Wizardmon agreed.  
  
Rei sighed and started onboard, but was stopped by a sudden, "REI! WAIT!"  
  
"Huh?" she turned around to see Zechs running towards her. "I told you to beat it, bastard."  
  
"No, just listen, I need to talk to you!" Zechs begged. "PLEASE!"  
  
"Oh, fine, come on to my cabin," Rei gave in. Zechs nodded and followed her. Once there she closed the door and asked him, "Now, what do you want?"  
  
"Listen, Rei, don't be like that, please. This is serious. For the past day I've seen you kiss one guy, hold hands with another, and have another hold your waist, and these ones I KNOW weren't family. It's been driving my fucking crazy because it's not ME! All I want now is to kiss and make up so we can go on with our happy little RELATIONSHIP!"  
  
"Whoa, Hold on, if you saw all this then it sure didn't bug you!"  
  
"WHAT is that supposed to mean? Were you trying to make me jealous? Cause you sure as HELL succeeded! You've been running around town with guys that half of them I don't even know! I figured, 'Hey, if I run up and slug that guy right now, she'll hate me for life, so either way, I lose!' And you think that I didn't do anything because it didn't bug me? IT DROVE ME FUCKING MAD! And that's only the beginning!"  
  
"FIRST OF ALL, I WASN'T EVEN TRYING TO MAKE YOU JEALOUS! I WAS JUST MAKING NEW FRIENDS AND MY OTHER FRIEND WHO WAS A GUY WAS HELPING ME JUST IN CASE I WAS DRUNK. THEN WITH OMI, I WAS TRYING TO GET HIM TO TRY HIS FIRST DRINK. I HAD NO INTENTION OF HAVEING HIM REALLY KISS ME!"  
  
"Beautiful!" Zechs yelled. "Fucking beautiful! If you had said all of this in the first place we wouldn't be yelling at each other! What impression did you THINK that I was going to get from all of this? That they were all friends you were inviting over for tea?! You have a funny way of NOT trying to make a boy jealous, you know that?!"  
  
"I had no idea I could do that to somebody. It has never happened to me before. I was just being myself, when I'm with my friends. So what do you suppose we do?"  
  
"Maybe start over? Like we had never even fought in the first place? You know what I mean?"  
  
"I think I do? So how does this sound you give me a day or more to think this over. I dont know if I really want to be with someone who dislikes my brother over something stupid as him being a gypsy." replied Rei, as she crosses her arms in front of her chests.  
  
"Hey, it's not just that, he's not exactly very nice to me lately! He threatened me with his sword to stay away from you!" Zechs said, raising his hands.  
  
"He was just protecting me, like every brother would! Beside, tell me why you dont listen very well to instructions. Since you obviously dont like him!" replied Rei, as she sat on the bed's edge.  
  
"Why would I listen to him if I don't like him?" Zechs pointed out.  
  
"Well why don't you explain that to me since I'm nothing but idiotic scum!!!!!" Rei stated, standing up quickly.  
  
"I never said you were, I said your brother was, and you have to admit I have a point. He doesn't understand a word I say and his mind is almost always in another dimension."  
  
"OUT!!!" cries Rei, as she walks to the door and opens it for him. "DONT YOU EVER DIS MY BROTHER, I DON'T SEE HOW YOU COULD DIS MY BROTHER AND STILL THINK THAT IT WOULDN'T BOTHER ME!!"  
  
Zechs threw up his hands and sighed, "I might as well leave, since every time I tell the truth I seem to get in TROUBLE..." He then went out the door and walked off to his own ship. When he got there however, he didn't enter as pleasantly as he'd exited.  
  
"So, what happened?" Rudolf asked.  
  
"Well, Rudolf, she kicked me out. Have any other stupid questions or would you like to leave me to my peace?" Zechs said, bending down and looking into Rudolf's eyes. Then he stalked off to his room.  
  
"Excuse me, sir but is this the 'Fire Soul'?" asked a black hair beauty with blue eyes. She was the height of 5'8", looked about the age of 20, she also looked like she could dance and handle a sword very well.  
  
"Does this look like the stinking 'Fire Soul'?" Zechs asked very irritably.  
  
"Zechs, be nice!" Rudolf yelled.  
  
"Oh, be quiet!" Zechs said.  
  
"I was just asking you dont need to be so rude! Why can't you just tell where it is? You could be a lot of help, or you could be a complete ass!"  
  
"Esmerelda, be nice," said a man about 38 walking up behind him. "Sorry, she's very irritable."  
  
"ME be nice, he was the one who is being an ass," replied Esmerelda, as she turns around to see her Fiancé.  
  
"Calm down, Essie," Phoebus said.  
  
"It's okay, Zechs is having a romance crisis right now..." Rudolf grinned.  
  
"RUDOLF!"  
  
"Esmerelda can we leave yet? We need to get on the ship before it leaves." stated a boy about 16, who had black hair and gray w/yellow. He was at the height of 5'10", he looked somewhat like Esmerelda.  
  
"Ethan we can leave once we find out where the 'Fire Soul' is." stated Esmerelda, as she turned to Zechs.  
  
"Hey Zechs, M'Lady was wondering..." asked Ryan, before he could finish he saw Esmerelda and the others. "Oh there you are...You can Come with Miss. La Pierre and friends, I'll show you to the 'Fire Soul'."  
  
"Right," replied Esmerelda, as she and the other left to the ship.  
  
"It's about time," said the oldest (besides Phoebus) who had black hair, dark eyes, and the cutest goatee (squeals) the world ever said. He looked about 24 years old. "I'm patient, but if I wait too long, people get hurt."  
  
"Clopin, dont get so full of your self." stated Esmerelda as she followed Ryan.  
  
"Hey, don't insult me! I'm your king!" Clopin declared, running after her.  
  
"Yeah, king of the pain-in-the-asses!" Phoebus rolled his eyes.  
  
"PHOEBUS!!!" glared Esmerelda, as she turned to face him. "He might be KING, but do you know who I am?"  
  
"What, are you saying you secretly married your brother behind my back?" Phoebus snickered.  
  
"You know what I mean...if you don't want to sleep on the deck when we get on board tonight. Then you better watch what you are saying buddy." giggled Esmerelda, playfully shoved him.  
  
Phoebus pouted. "I'll be good..."  
  
"Right, and I'll stop being a gypsy." retorted Esmerelda, as she climbed the ramp.  
  
"That was strange," Ray said, leaning against the railing of the ship, watching the entering gypsies.  
  
"Ryo, who are they? Are they friends of your?" asked Rei as she looked over with Ray.  
  
"Yep, just thought that they might come in handy. You see, Clopin's the heir to the gypsy thrown, and the others are his siblings. His sister, Esmerelda, is going to be married to Phoebus who is the captain of the guard."  
  
"Oh I see, well we do need more crew members." smiled Rei, as she saw Esmerelda approach her. "Hi, I'm Captain Rei Sanada of the 'Fire Soul'.  
  
"Oh Hi I'm Esmerelda La Pierre, and these are My brothers Clopin, Elton, and Ethan, and My sisters Elizabeth and Adelaide."  
  
"Yeah, what am I, chopped liver?" Phoebus asked, jokingly.  
  
"Hey, what's with your names?" Wizardmon couldn't resist. "You're all 'E's except Clopin and Adelaide."  
  
"Well, father got to name me because I'm his heir. He wanted a strong name, so I'm Clopin Trouillefou La Pierre," Clopin explained.  
  
"Yep, little did he know he gave a strong name to a pansy boy," Phoebus snickered. Clopin bristled and glared at him.  
  
"Adelaide got her name because she was named after my fathers mother our Grandmother. Father wanted to have one of his girls to have her name, so he fought mother for it. As you can see he won." stated Esmerelda, as she Adelaide run up to Ryo and hug him.  
  
"When did you get here?" asked Adelaide, as let go of him.  
  
"Just a little while ago," Ryo said.  
  
"So, these are your friends, Ryo?" Rowen asked.  
  
"Yyyyyyyyyyyep..." Ryo laughed. "Just a bunch of goofballs!"  
  
"Just like you, eh?" Rowen joked, ruffling Ryo's hair.  
  
"Who could be funnier than Ryo?" asked Adelaide.  
  
"Him..." Ryo said, jabbing a thumb at Clopin. "Check it out, he never goes anywhere without that thing, does he?" Ryo was talking, of course, about the Mini-Clopin-Puppet, which hung from the Gypsy Prince's belt.  
  
"He never goes anywhere with out that thing, it bugs the crap out of everybody!" Adelaide exclaimed.  
  
"Try telling him that, he'll raspberry you and run like a five-year- old..." Ryo sniggered.At that moment they noticed a ship pull into dock. It was completely black with your typical pirate flag flying above it. "Ahoy!" the captain, a swaggering yet attractive man of about 27, called. "How is everyone today?" he asked, swaggering down the ramp onto the dock.  
  
Clopin groaned, "Oh, no, not him..."  
  
"You know him?" Ray asked.  
  
"You dolt!" Clopin hissed. "That's Captain Jack Sparrow!"  
  
"Clopin!" Jack called, laughing. "Long time no see! How's your sister?"  
  
"Don't talk about my sister!" Clopin declared.  
  
"Is something the matter?" Jack asked.  
  
"Oh no, everything is just PEACHY!" Clopin said sarcastically.  
  
"Is there a problem over here?" Phoebus asked, walking up.  
  
"Oh, this fellow over here used to date my sister," Ethan said coyly.  
  
"Yes, and I wonder where I might find her?" Jack asked, continuing to swagger.  
  
"Are you drunk?" Phoebus asked, raising his eyebrows.  
  
"Oh no, he's always like this," Clopin said. "Dropped on his head as a child," he added, whispering.  
  
"Ah..." Phoebus said, nodding his head. "So, which sister?"  
  
"Elizabeth," Clopin said, while at the same time Ethan said, "Esmerelda."  
  
"Wait, he dated Essie?" Clopin asked.  
  
"He dated Elizabeth?" Ethan countered. Both looked at Jack.  
  
"Yes, yes, very nice girls both of them, now, where might I find Esmerelda?" Jack asked, oblivious to the fact that he just put his entire well being in danger in a matter of 5 seconds.  
  
"Right here," said a voice from behind him. Jack swayed his head in a 'U' style and found himself face-to-face with a very pissed-off Esmerelda. "What do YOU want, you overgrown sea-bastard?"  
  
"Now, I can tell why you're mad, but do you have to go that far?" Jack said. "You see, I never knew my father," he added with high dramatics that were obviously false.  
  
"Oh, shut up, son-of-a--" Esmerelda started.  
  
Clopin stopped her, "Now, Esmerelda, you don't want him started on his mother again, now do you?"  
  
"I asked you what you want!" Esmerelda declared.  
  
"I just wanted to see you again, you see, I just can't start my day like I used to for the past five years since you punched me and said it was over..." Jack said, getting on one knee. "So I want to ask, will you have dinner with me again? Give me another chance?"  
  
"Ho, ho, ho, merry Christmas and all, but wait a minute here," Phoebus said, pulling Jack by the arm back onto his feet. "Are you saying you dated her sister and her, and you just now decide that you want to have her back? Just now that she was the first of them you saw?"  
  
"No, no, no, that not what I'm saying at all!" Jack said. "You see, her sister was just kind of a...test...that's all, just to see what would happen if I dated other girls, you know, if it affected my feelings for Esmerelda...but it didn't, so I've wanted her back for the past five years, but you know, with the whole dead demon pirates taking my ship thing, I couldn't find the time..." He steadied himself by grabbing Phoebus' shirt and just randomly added, "This is a nice shirt, where did you get it?"  
  
"You are a sad, strange little man," Phoebus said shaking his head.  
  
Esmerelda shoved Jack softly towards his ship, yelling, "So NOW you want me BACK after ALL these YEARS?! You HONOSTLY expected me to TAKE you BACK?! After everything YOU put me TROUGH?!"  
  
"Well, actually..." Jack said, thinking for a second, "Yes...yes I did...is this a no?"  
  
Esmerelda stopped with an, "Oh..." She started thinking for a minute.  
  
"Wait a gosh-darned minute!" Phoebus declared. "This is MY fiancé you're talking to!"  
  
"Oh..." Jack said, looking at one and then the other, completely still for once. "Oh, I see, so while I was out THINKING of you for the past five years EVERY NIGHT, you were getting ENGAGED?" he asked, completely exasperated.  
  
"Well..." Esmerelda said.  
  
"No, don't bother trying to explain!" Jack said, going back to swaggering again. "I understand FULLY!" he declared, turning on his heal and storming back to his ship.  
  
"Wait, Jack, I...no...you don't...!" Esmerelda called. She then turned to Phoebus, "This is all YOUR fault you know!" She then turned to the Fire Soul and stormed onto that.  
  
"What did I do?!" Phoebus cried to no one in particular. "Why is everyone always mad at me?!" 


	6. On the Black Pearl

**On the Black Pearl...**  
  
Jack marched up the ramp and past his stunned crew, going into his cabin and slamming the door shut. "Wow, I wonder what's buggin' him," Anne said.  
  
"You wanna ask him?" Shorty asked. There was suddenly a crash and several naughty words from Jack's cabin. "Nah," All four of them said at the same time, shaking their heads.  
  
"Obviously, he has women trouble," Will said. William Turner was the brown- hair, brown-eyed son of "Bootstrap Bill" Turner. He was about 18 years old and engaged to Elizabeth Swan, the gunner of the ship, a young blond-haired daughter of a wealthy aristocrat. Will was the 1st Mate.  
  
"No, really," Elizabeth said sarcastically, "I thought he was having hormonal problems!"  
  
Will blinked, "What's the difference?"  
  
"For example, you are an egotistical pirate, and he's just a lonely old man," Elizabeth explained.  
  
"I HEARD THAT!" they heard from the captain's quarters.  
  
"I'm...not in this conversation..." Anne said, sneaking off.  
  
"Neither am I," Shorty said, also fearing his captain's wrath.  
  
"You're on your own with this one," Will said, patting Elizabeth on the shoulder while trying to sneak away.  
  
"OH, NO IT'S NOT! It's YOUR turn to deal with the DEAR captain..." Elizabeth insisted, pushing Will towards the door before he can get away. "Since he is your DEAREST friend..." She then shoved him into the cabin and slammed the door shut with a, "Sucker..."  
  
"What do YOU want?" Jack asked, sitting at his desk. He was currently writing something down, dipping the quill into a puddle of ink on the table, because he'd knocked his inkbottle open in his frustration. "Pardon the mess, a bit of..." he looked around at the mess he'd created within minutes in his cabin looking for the right word, "...redecorating..."  
  
"Who are you stressed over more, Elizabeth or Esmerelda?" Will asked.  
  
"Who do you think?" Jack snapped. He then groaned. "Look at me, I'm a mess...over what? A girl! I must have dated at least 20 in my lifetime, so what is it with just ONE?"  
  
"Because she inspires you, maybe?" Will asked. "Adds some spice to your life that the others can't seem to?"  
  
"Of course she adds spice, she's a gypsy!" Jack said, throwing up his hands. "Think about it, she's almost the same concept as a pirate, despised by all, fiery tempered, exotic, not seeming to be from this world! And she's not going to let anyone hold her down for anything..." Jack stood up and walked to the window. "Am I crazy? Have I just finally went off the deep end?"  
  
"Did all the other girls have that kind of personality?" asked Will.  
  
"Of course not, not one person has the personality like Esmerelda! Those girls were all the same sensitive little wenches that seemed to have the free time on their hands at the moment. Esmerelda isn't sensitive, if someone upsets her, she won't cry home to mommy, she strikes back!" Jack responded.  
  
"If you love her then fight for her, don't just sit here and cower in your cabin..." Will looked around, "...redecorating!"  
  
"I would fight back, but you remember the last time I went sword to sword with another man? He was dead, rotting, and fighting back with the temper that I could never have! How discouraging do you think that was? I don't fight myself all that much, I'd rather outwit the man!"  
  
"Well, you've proven you're good at that more than once, Especially against guards! And let's face it, the lights are on in this guy but you might as well keep knocking, cause nobody's gonna answer." "Well, I have to admit, if there's anything that I have that he doesn't, it's got to be a brain," Jack smirked.  
  
"Then go for it!" Will declared.  
  
Jack seemed more encouraged. "All right, I'm going to go for it!" he declared. He then stopped and muttered, "Tomorrow..." and passed out onto the bed.  
  
"Memo to self..." Will muttered. "Over excitedness is not a good thing for Jack Sparrow...causes drowsiness."  
  
We'll get back to the Black Pearl later and Jack's progress towards declaring his love for Esmerelda. Now, let's see what's happening elsewhere...  
  
"Wow, you had a boyfriend five years ago?" Ryo asked. "You never mentioned him to me before."  
  
"She doesn't like to talk about it," Clopin muttered.  
  
"There were some VERY bad MEMORIES! Let's see would I, Esmerelda, LIKE TO TALK YOU, RYO, ABOUT THOSE BAD MEMORIES. I THINK NOT. LET'S JUST DROP THE SUBJECT! OK!" Esmerelda hollered at Ryo who was now cowering against the ship's wall.  
  
"I was just asking, you don't have to yell," Ryo said, raising his hands. "Now, if you'll just calm down, I can show you around the ship."  
  
"HOW AM I SUPPOSE TO CALM DOWN WHEN I GUY, I USED TO DATE IS JUST RIGHT ON THE NEXT SHIP, JUST CONFESSED HIS LOVE FOR ME, WHEN I AM ALREADY ENGAGED! I DON'T THINK THAT I CAN CALM DOWN, DO YOU?" Esmerelda Hollered as she walked around the 'Fire Soul' with Ryo.  
  
Ryo sweatdropped, laughing nervously, "You know, you're going to look back on this someday and laugh..." he said. "You have to decide now, who do you love? The handsome and charming Phoebus, or the dirty, drunk, yet incredibly free-willed Jack Sparrow?"  
  
"I can't have these complications right now, I don't know who I like or love right now," Esmerelda complained, as she went off the ship and walked by the 'Black Pearl'.  
  
Anne looked off the ship and said, "Hey, isn't that Esme-whatsit girl?" "Esmeldy?" Shorty said.  
  
"No no, Emesda," Anne said, snickering.  
  
"No you IDIOTS it's ESMERELDA! You better get it right before the Captain hears you." Will replied slapping his forehead in the process.  
  
"We're just foolin'," Anne said. "And besides, mon capitain is probably still asleep."  
  
"What was that?" Elizabeth laughed, as she heard a thump from the captain's courtiers. "Looks like the dear Captain just woke up for his beloved sleep."  
  
"I'm okay!" they heard, as Jack staggered out, rubbing his head. "Whose idea was it to make the bed that high?"  
  
"Yours, sir," Anne said innocently.  
  
"Don't get smart with me!" Jack declared, swaggering out to see what they're doing. "What's so interesting about being over here?"  
  
"Where looking at this raven haired woman, who just happens to have walked by the ship. I think that you might be interested in WHO it is." Will declared, as he pushes Jack toward the ledge to see who they are looking at.  
  
"Oh..." Jack said, looking down at Esmerelda.  
  
"Well, aren't you going to say anything to her?" Shorty asked.  
  
"Oh, no!" Jack declared. "Not yet! I'll talk tomorrow, not now! Not now!" He backed away from the rail as he said that.  
  
Esmerelda walked by the ship and went straight for the edge of the docks, to sit or stand and think about what she should do. Esmerelda thought 'basically I love Phoebus, he is the one for me, since Jack had gone and used My sister to declare his feelings were true about me. How am I supposed to love him again when he went and betrayed me, using Elizabeth? Does he have any idea how much he hurt me when I found him in the tavern, upstairs IN BED WITH HER?'.  
  
She suddenly heard a scream and a splash right next to her. Jack popped out of the water and yelled up at the ship, "Why can't you just say 'We insist' like normal people?!" He then looked up at Esmerelda. "Oh, um, hi, Esmerelda..." he said with a nervous laugh. "So, you...come here often?" he asked jokingly, swimming to the dock.  
  
"Often enough since you decided to commit adultery," Esmerelda replied snidely.  
  
"I'm a pirate, what do you want me to do, dress in drag and do the hula?" Jack asked. "Listen, what you saw there, it meant nothing! And by the way, what were you doing opening the door to the room upstairs in the tavern anyways?" he asked, getting up onto the dock.  
  
"TRYING TO FIND YOU, WHAT DO YOU THINK I WAS TRYING TO? FIND SOMEBODY ELSE WHEN I WAS PERFECTLY HAPPY WITH THE GUY I WAS WITH. I THOUGHT THE WORLD OF THE MAN I WAS WITH, HE TREATED ME LIKE AN EQUAL. NOT LIKE SOME GYPSY WHORE WHO WENT AROUND SHAGGING EVERYBODY SHE COULD GET HER HANDS ON. THEN WHEN I FIND THE MAN I LOVED WITH ANOTHER GIRL, ONE WHO WAS MY SISTER, THEN ALL HELL IS BROKEN LOOSE. WHAT WAS I SUPPOSE TO THINK OF YOU AND ELIZABETH?" Esmerelda hollered, as she turned her back on him. "Oh he is just having a one night stand nothing to worry about?"  
  
"Well...yes..." Jack said, scratching his head. "And besides, I don't think you were trying to find me, persay, I think you were spying on me." Jack leaned against a pillar, "After all, how would you know to look in that one particular room which I'd NEVER been in before in my life when you didn't even know I was at that tavern because I had told no one?"  
  
"It's easy to have some one followed, when you know the right people. I knew something was up when; you were so busy on so many nights. I had Elton follow you to the tavern then had him come back to report to me when you finally did something wrong." Esmerelda shrugged, as she crossed her arms across her chest. "You told me that you wanted to spend the rest of your life with me at one time, then I find you in bed with my sister." Esmerelda whispers before she starts to walk the other way.  
  
"Well, maybe if you actually followed me yourself, you'd have figured out what was going on yourself, instead of hearing it from unreliable sources. You see, not always are the right people actually right. How many of the times you investigated did you go yourself? That once, maybe? That's what I thought. Cause you know the only thing that your sister and I did the first few nights was just dinner and a little dancing, but we drank a little too much that night and, well..." Jack shrugged. "You know what happened. Of course, you didn't stick around long enough for me to explain anything. You yelled and hollered and threw things and left, but I never even got a word in, that's why I left the next morning very early. I didn't want to deal with you while I was on an extremely painful hangover after all of that..." Jack surprisingly said this all very calmly, while taking interest in the dirt under his fingernails.  
  
The next thing that Jack knew was he was in the water again after Esmerelda punched him hard in the face and sent him flying into the water. "That was for dissing my brother," she hollered down to him. "Are you going to take that from a mere girl of 20?"  
  
"Actually, yes, because you know the rules of the pirates? One of them is that it's incredibly rude to take revenge on a lady, even if she just tried to drown you by knocking you across the kisser."  
  
"Oh so now I'm a lady after all these years, how necessary for you to say, I might of thought you would have called me a man. Since you did when I punched you the last time I saw you." Esmerelda explained, as she leaned over the dock, closer to Jack.  
  
"When did I call you a man?" Jack asked, crawling back onto the dock again. "What did I say that made you think I thought you were a man?"  
  
"You are so impossible," Esmerelda replied aggravated as she stormed off the towards the 'Fire Soul'.  
  
"Gee, and here I thought that was my charm..." Jack shrugged, walking to his ship.  
  
"Oh, that was lovely," Anne said. "You went down to make amends. You got punched, insulted, and thrown into the water..."  
  
"Oh, shut up..." Jack said pushing her overboard.  
  
"What ever happened to 'incredibly rude to get revenge on a lady'?" Shorty asked, looking at Anne overboard.  
  
"One, she's not a lady, and two, they're not actually rules they're more like...guidelines..." Jack said, walking to his cabin."  
  
"Everything is guidelines to you, Jack Sparrow!" Elizabeth said, as she was swabbing the deck.  
  
"Only when convenient!" Jack laughed, shutting the door to his cabin.

**On the 'Fire Soul':**  
  
Esmerelda stormed on to the deck right passed Phoebus, after her fight with Jack.  
  
"Hey, how'd it go with Romeo?" Ryo asked, hanging upside down from a thick nail protruding from the mast. "Did you kiss and make up?"  
  
Esmerelda glared at Ryo and then went to the deck's pier holding her knees to her chest. Esmerelda looked over at the 'Black Pearl', wondering what Jack was doing at that moment.**On the 'Black Pearl':  
**  
Jack sighed, looking out the porthole of his room. 'What in the world am I gonna do?' he thought. 'I'm 27-years-old, I've had at LEAST 15 girlfriends in the last 10 years, so why am I getting so bent out of shape over this?!' "WHY WON'T YOU JUST GET OUT OF MY THOUGHTS?!" he finally screamed, losing his balance and falling off of the bed. "Ow..." he groaned. "I'm okay...really..." 


	7. The Fire Soul

**On the 'Fire Soul':**  
  
Esmerelda looked out at the ocean remembering the times that she had with Jack.  
  
::Flashback::  
  
"Jack can you seriously tell me that you want to spend the rest of my life with me?" 15-year-old Esmerelda whispered to the 21-year-old Jack Sparrow, as they sat in the tavern.  
  
"Of Course Essie, you know I do," Jack confessed, as he reached in to his pocket for the ring her was going to give her when he thought the time was right.  
  
"You know Jack that I want to...tell...that.." Esmerelda started to say but was interrupted by her 18-year-old brother Clopin La Pierre.  
  
"Esmerelda, WHAT IN THE NAME OF THE GYPSY KING DO YOU THINK THAT YOU ARE DOING HERE? IN A TAVERN WITH HIM?" Clopin ordered at his little sister.  
  
"We're talking Clopin, nothing else." Esmerelda replied looking scared of what might happen to Jack.  
  
"Wait a minute, who are you to decide who your sister sees or not?" Jack argued.  
  
"Since I am her oldest brother and in charge of her! You are not to see her again or I will have my father hear of this. You're just lucky that I didn't do that sooner." Clopin retorted as he dragged Esmerelda out of the tavern. Esmerelda looked like she was going to cry, she didn't want to leave. Her eyes were saying to Jack that 'she loved him and she didn't want to give that up'.  
  
"Well I LOVE HER, DAMMIT! Whether you like it or not I will have her as my..." Jack replied to Clopin but before he could finish, Clopin and Esmerelda left the tavern.  
  
::End Flashback:: 


	8. On the Black Pearl

**On the 'Black Pearl':  
**  
"Captain?" a voice inquired from the door. Jack looked up and saw the brown-haired, brown-eyed, 17-year-old Sara Lewis. "I came to report my return." A little green parrot squawked happily on her shoulder. "Gar returned safely too," she smiled.  
  
"Good, now, I could use you about now," Jack said, standing up. "Do you remember when I helped you with your boy troubles and you swore you'd pay me back someday for it?"  
  
"Yes, sir, do you have a request?" Sara asked, sitting down.  
  
"Squawk, captain's got a girl, captain's got a girl, squawk!" Gar squawked, fluttering around the room.  
  
"Er, what the bird said," Jack muttered. "Esmerelda and I talked, well, argued, and now she's raving mad at me AGAIN, and I have no idea what to do! She's invading my every thought, every motion, it's as if she's the very air I breathe, and it's driving me MAD!" Jack declared.  
  
"I see nothing new here, it's been that way it seems since the day I met the two of you," Sara said.

**::Flashback::  
**  
"Oh, for the GODS SAKES, will you leave me alone for a minute, Jack?!" Esmerelda yelled, storming across the bar.  
  
"Come on, Essie, you've got to let me explain!" Jack said desperately.  
  
"I said, leave me ALONE!" Esmerelda slammed the door to the women's restroom shut in Jack's face.  
  
"Damn the laws of mankind which limit the areas which we can step into!" Jack cried, walking away from the restroom. He sat at the bar, next to a 12- year-old with long brown hair and brown eyes.  
  
"You know," the girl said. "If you it doesn't work with her, I'm always available."  
  
Jack spit out his ale, coughing. "Wh-what?!" he asked, looking down at her.  
  
"I'm joking!" the girl giggled. "Don't worry, you're not the only one with troubles of the opposite sex."  
  
"Sara!" a boy came running up. He looked of 15, with blond hair and blue eyes. "Thank goodness, you're safe! I was dreadfully worried about you!"  
  
"Sure you were, Lucas, and I'm a monkey!" Sara said indignantly. "You're not worried about me because you care, you only want to marry me!"  
  
"So?" Lucas asked.  
  
"I'M 12 YEARS OLD! I'M A CHILD! IN SHORT, YOU'RE BARKING UP THE WRONG TREE, MISTER, IF YOU'RE LOOKING FOR A WIFE!" Sara screamed, pushing Lucas backwards.  
  
"Hey!" Lucas yelled, pushing her back. "You don't push me!"  
  
"Hey, hey, hey now..." Jack said. "That's quite enough of that! You do not treat a lady like that, it's not polite!" He then grabbed the back of Lucas' shirt and lifted him off the floor. "So, who do you think you are, pushing a lady around like that?"  
  
"I'm Lucas St. Claire, and I'm the son of the governor of this island! I can have whatever girl I want and treat them however I want!" Lucas said.  
  
"Really?" Jack asked. He then spotted the return of Esmerelda, who was looking curious. "Hey, Essie, this little man has a blatant disrespect for females, he seems to think they're nothing but mindless slaves that must bend to his will."  
  
"Oh, does he, now?" Esmerelda asked, staring into the boy's face. "I think that he is wrong, unless he'd like to meet my other sisters as well..."  
  
"Fuck you!" Lucas cried. Esmerelda glared at him and punched him straight across the face. "I think that my mom and dad need to talk to yours, unless you want me to deal with you personally even FURTHER!"  
  
Lucas rubbed his cheek and pouted. "Fine..." he muttered.  
  
"Now, you will never treat another girl like that again!" Jack said, pushing Lucas towards the door. "Now get out of here!"  
  
"Wow," Sara said, looking on in awe. "That was neat!"  
  
"Who are you exactly, young lady?" Esmerelda asked.  
  
"I'm Sara Lewis," Sara said. "My parents both died when I was little, and I've lived on this island all my life on my own. I want to leave, but I don't have the chance..."  
  
"Well, I'm going to be leaving soon, would you like to come with me?" Jack smiled.  
  
"Would I ever?!" Sara said happily.  
  
"Wait, you're what?" Esmerelda asked. "You never told me you were leaving!"  
  
"I must go, Essie, I'm still yet to find the man this shot is for, and I must get my ship back," Jack said, patting the gun at his side, which was loaded with only one shot. This shot was meant for his ex-1st mate, who led the mutiny against him five years earlier. "I'm sorry."  
  
**::End flashback::**"I mean this is something different," Jack said. "I may actually have a chance at this!"  
  
"Would you like me to help you figure this out?" Sara asked.  
  
"More than anything," Jack said, taking Sara's hand. "Please, help me..." Sara smiled until Gar started flying around their heads frantically.  
  
"Squawk! Back landlubber, back landlubber! Squawk! The booty belongs to me! The booty belongs to me! Squawk!" Gar squawked, clawing at Jack's hand with his talons.**At the 'Fire Soul':**  
  
Esmerelda sat there on the boat's pier, until Phoebus came up to 'try' and talk to her.  
  
"Esmerelda, please, we need to talk," Phoebus said. He put a hand on her shoulder.  
  
Esmerelda jumped as he touched her shoulder screaming as she lost her balance on the boats edge. "AAAHHH!!! Phoebus?! HELP ME!" As she plummets off the ships edge and was found hanging on to a rope that was dangling off the ship.  
  
Phoebus' hand shot down and grabbed hers. "Hang on!" he said. He struggled, though, finding he couldn't pull her up on his own. "Man, I wish I hadn't slacked off in my training..." he muttered to himself.**On the 'Black Pearl':**  
  
"Sorry about that," Sara said, wrapping the handkerchief around Jack's hand with a nervous laugh.  
  
"No problem, just keep that bloody bird—"Jack was cut off by a scream. Both him and Sara ran to the porthole and saw Phoebus struggling to pull Esmerelda up onto the ship. "What does that idiot think he's doing, trying to pull her up when he hasn't been to the training centers for weeks?!" Jack yelled, running out of the cabin door.  
  
"Wait for me!" Sara yelled, running after him. "You forgot your hat!" 


	9. The Fire Soul

**On the 'Fire Soul':**  
  
"Some time for everyone to decide to go shopping!" Phoebus growled his grip slipping.  
  
"Hold on!" he heard. Jack was running towards them, and took seconds to be there and grabbing Esmerelda's hand, helping to pull her up.  
  
"What are you doing here?" Phoebus asked.  
  
"Helping, now shut up and pull!" Jack said. Esmerelda was in the ship in no time.  
  
Esmerelda fell on top of Jack after both Phoebus and Jack pulled her on to the ship. "Thank you, Jack." Esmerelda whispered, as she looked into Jacks eyes as he layed on top of each other.  
  
"Hey!" Phoebus said. "I helped here! You'd have been in the water by the time Jack had gotten here if I hadn't held on to you!"  
  
"SHUT UP!" Sara said, hitting Phoebus over the head with Jack's hat. "They're having a romantic moment!"  
  
"I'm sorry about punching you before," Esmerelda whispered as she looked Jack over intently.  
  
"Yeah, well, I'll forgive you for that if you'll forgive me for sleeping with your sister," Jack chuckled.  
  
"Done!" Esmerelda laughed at Jack's facial expression.  
  
"Squawk! Kiss and make up! Kiss and make up! Squawk!" Gar squawked.  
  
"Hey, that's my fiancé!" Phoebus protested.  
  
"Squawk! Leave them be! Leave them be! Squawk!" Gar went back to squawking, aiming his talons at Phoebus this time.  
  
"For once, I respect that bird," Jack smirked. "Though I still think it's a bloody—"  
  
"JACK!" Sara yelled.  
  
"What?" Jack asked innocently.  
  
"You know what, don't insult Gar!" Sara retorted.  
  
"I'm sorry, look at me keeping you from your ship," Esmerelda giggled as she looked at her position from a top of Jack. "Just let me get up off you, then you can get back to work."  
  
"Oh, um, right," Jack said, blushing.  
  
"No, don't apologize!" Sara groaned. "Gods dammit, you DO need all the help you can get!"  
  
"I've, er, got to go..." Jack said, backing off the ship. "Your welcome for rescuing you, and—"Jack never finished, he'd backed up a little too far and stumbled backwards into the water.  
  
"Jack!" Sara cried, running to the side of the ship. She sighed when she saw Jack bobbing up and down in the water. "Can't you back up without falling into the ocean for ONCE?!" Sara yelled at him.  
  
"JACK!" Esmerelda yelled also running to the side of the ship where Jack fell. Phoebus running after Esmerelda not wanting to let her out of his sight. "Are you ok? Do you need any help?"  
  
"No, I'm okay!" Jack yelled back up. "Though, I could use some whiskey about now!"  
  
"Oh, come on!" Sara yelled, going to the dock next to where he was and dragging him out of the water. "I've decided we're going shopping!"  
  
"Shopping? For what?" Jack asked.  
  
"STUFF!" Sara growled, dragging Jack off.  
  
"Geeze, and I thought you were demanding..." Phoebus said.  
  
"Don't start with me, you are still on my SHIT list! You think that you can just parade around like nothings changed! Well you wrong a lot has changed you should know that much by now!" Esmerelda argued as she turned to face Phoebus.  
  
"I made a little comment, why are you suddenly mad at me for it?" Phoebus asked. "I never said things weren't different!"  
  
"You sure do act like it things are still the same," Esmerelda replied as she threw her hands up into the air. "You still like to startle me when I'm deep in thought."  
  
"I'm a very conventional guy, I like patterns," Phoebus shrugged. "If I'm used to startling people, I do it. It doesn't mean everything's the same, just some."  
  
"What did you want to talk to me about before I was about to plummet of the ship?" Esmerelda asked.  
  
"Well, I..." Phoebus hesitated. "I was wondering, if you still have any feelings for Sparrow. You know, if you still love him."  
  
"Why? Is there a reason that I shouldn't still love him?" Esmerelda asked.  
  
"Well, yeah, unless you forgot about me," Phoebus said. "I love you Esmerelda, you know that, otherwise I would have never asked you to marry me. But how am I supposed to trust this engagement and our future marriage if you still love someone else? How can I be sure that you love me back?"  
  
"I DON'T KNOW HOW YOU ARE SUPPOSE TO TRUST THIS ENGAGEMENT, I NOT EVEN SURE ABOUT MY OWN FEELINGS RIGHT NOW ABOUT JACK. ITS BEEN FIVE YEARS SINCE I LOST SAW HIM AND HE ALL OF A SUDDEN SHOWS UP AND CONFESSES THAT HE HAS LOVED ME EVER SINCE WE PARTED ON BAD TERMS FIVE YEARS AGO. HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO FEEL ABOUT THAT?" Esmerelda retorted.  
  
"I don't know how you're supposed to feel about that, but how do you feel about me?" Phoebus asked, looking into her eyes. "Do you still love me, Esmerelda? Did you ever actually love me?"  
  
"Yes I did actually love you at one time, but I'm not so sure right at this moment. I need time to sort through all that is happening with Jack showing up." Esmerelda whispered as she went to her cabin.  
  
"What just happened?" Ethan asked as he came up on to the ship. "Did you and my sister just have a falling out about something?"  
  
"What happened? What's wrong with Esmerelda? Did you hurt her in some way?" Elizabeth replied. "If you did then you will have to be answering to the 5 of us?"  
  
"I didn't hurt her, you imbeciles!" Phoebus snapped. "We just got in an argument, as all couples do! You'd know if you ever got a girlfriend or boyfriend!" He then stormed down the ramp to calm himself in the city.

**On the 'Tallgeese II':**  
  
"Captain!" Quatre inquired, sticking his head in the door of the captain's cabin. "What are we to do now? The crew is awaiting orders!"  
  
"We're heading off to Peridot, Quatre, tell them to pull anchor..." Treize muttered, looking out the porthole at the ship next to them.  
  
"Who are they?" Quatre asked, looking over Treize's shoulder.  
  
"Captain Jack Sparrow's ship, the 'Black Pearl'," Treize muttered.  
  
"Jack Sparrow?" Quatre asked. "I've heard of him, I heard he is one of the greatest pirates to ever live."  
  
"That's what bugs me," Treize growled. "His crew has beaten mine, and I'm looking for payback. Now's a good time, but I don't want to do anything in port, it's too...easy..."  
  
There was a knock on the Captains door, Rei poked her head in and said, "Captain Do you know where I can find Zechs? I really need to talk to him about some things."  
  
"I don't know, but you best get off the ship unless you want to take a little trip with us, we're leaving," Treize said.  
  
"I'll tell the crew," Quatre said. "Zechs is in his cabin, I think he's a bit depressed though, so be careful." He then bowed to both of them and ran off.  
  
"Captain, can you just tell him that I was looking for him?" Rei asked as she opened the door to leave. "I would really appreciate it if you do."  
  
"I'd tell him, but he won't let anyone in his room," Treize said. "He's completely locked himself in there, the only person that he let in there was Rudolf, but when the kid came out he had a bruise on his cheek and was crying something about Zechs hitting him."  
  
"Here can you give him this," Rei asked handing him an envelope. "I hope it will have him understand and explain some things. Maybe it will have him go back to his old self again."  
  
"I will. And I hope it will, Zechs would have never struck a child before," Treize shook his head.  
  
"We're ready to go, sir," Wufei said, appearing at the door.  
  
"Good. Now, good day to you, Captain Sanada," Treize said.  
  
Wufei bowed gently as Rei left and closed the door behind him.  
  
"Good day Captain Treize, I hope this helps." Rei replied as she curtsies, adjusts her shall and leaves. Hoping that she still had a chance with Zech's and their love that she had lost. 


End file.
